英语新闻一起读28

Obama Says Hillary Clinton Would Make 'Excellent President'

(Bloomberg) -- On the eve of(在…前夕) Hillary Clinton's anticipated announcement of a 2016 White House run, U.S. President Barack Obama said his former secretary of state（国务卿） and fellow Democrat would be an excellent successor.

Run: an attempt to be elected to an important position 竞选:He is preparing a run for the presidency.他准备竞选总统。

Successor：继任者（一定不要想当然的翻译成“成功的人”）

Clinton, who is expected to declare her candidacy on Sunday, would be very clear about “her vision for the country moving forward,” Obama said Saturday during a news conference（记者招待会） in Panama after a summit of Western Hemisphere leaders.

“She was a formidable（令人敬畏的） candidate in 2008, she was a great supporter of mine in the general election（普选）, she was an outstanding secretary of state, she is my friend,” Obama said of his vanquished primary foe（反对者） from seven years ago. “I think she would be an excellent president.”

The announcement is a long-awaited (期待已久的) step for the former first lady and New York senator, 67, who has spent several months building a campaign team and plotting a path to the presidency aimed at avoiding the missteps of her 2008 bid. “She's going to be able to handle herself very well in conversations that are based around foreign policy,” Obama said. “If she decides to run and she makes an announcement, she's going to have some strong messages to deliver.”

Obama declined to characterize on Saturday the race for the Democratic nomination as a forgone conclusion. “Not only have I won my last election but I'm not in the business of（…不是我的职责） prognosticating（预测） future elections,” he said.