down-to-earth #3
7月の東京都知事選に向けて、自民党は桜井前総務事務次官への立候補要請を考えているようです。
LDP may ask pop star's dad to run for Tokyo governor
The Tokyo chapter of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is considering asking former Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications vice Minister Shun Sakurai, 62, the father of pop star Sho Sakurai, to run as its candidate for Tokyo governor, it has been learned.
The election comes following the sudden resignation of the former governor, Yoichi Masuzoe, over a funding scandal. The election campaign will kick off on July 14, with voting taking place on July 31.
At a meeting on June 27, the LDP chapter agreed to choose a gubernatorial candidate possibly within the week, and it is in the final stages of selecting a candidate.
According to an insider source with the chapter, in public polling conducted on June 25 and June 26, out of a number of possible LDP gubernatorial candidates Sakurai was the most preferred. As the last two governors, Naoki Inose and Masuzoe, were well-known before becoming the heads of the capital and were forced to resign over money scandals, many among the Tokyo LDP chapter hope the next governor is more down-to-earth clerical type, says an LDP member of the metropolitan assembly. For this reason, and because of the results of the poll, many in the LDP caucus support making Sakurai the candidate.
http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20160628/p2a/00m/0na/015000c
今回取り上げるのはdown-to-earthです。
『ジーニアス英和辞典』（第五版、大修館書店）では「（人が）現実的である、地に足がついている」とあり、LDOCEでも“practical and direct in a sensible honest way”と定義されています。
上記にあるように、前回、前々回の都知事のスキャンダルをふまえて、地に足がしっかりとついた人が新たな知事になるのを望んでいることがわかります。
先日、桜井氏は出馬を否定し、都連は他にも幅広くいろいろな人に声をかけるそうですが、果たしてどうなるのか今後の行方が気になります。(flyingbird)
PS. 過去には「気取らない」の意味で取り上げられている文例もありました。
