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America’s presidential election美国总统大选

Indecision time 犹豫不决的时刻

An unusually large number of undecided voters will pick the next president

一大部分还在犹豫的投票者将会决定美国下一任总统是谁

Sep 24th 2016 | From the print edition 2016年9月24日|摘自纸质版

ON SEPTEMBER 26th two candidates will debate against each other on live television during what will probably be the most-watched political broadcast in American history. One of them is a former First Lady, senator and secretary of state. The other has never been elected to any office before and was, until last year, the host of “Celebrity Apprentice”. Yet this is not the most remarkable thing about America’s presidential election. What is truly extraordinary is that the polling currently suggests that these two candidates are, if not quite tied, then far closer than most people expected them to be at this stage of the race.9月26日，两位总统候选人的竞选辩论将会在电视直播，而此次辩论很可能是美国历史上观看人数最多的一场辩论。两位候选人之一是前第一夫人、参议员、国务卿，另一位在去年之前还没有任何政府任职经历的《飞黄腾达》的节目主持人。然而这届美国总统大选最引人注意的地方还不是这些，而是就目前投票情况显示，这两位候选人如今在这次选举中所走的距离比当初大多数人预测的要远的多。

After the Democratic National Convention at the end of July, betting markets gave Donald Trump just a 20% chance of becoming the 45th president. His attacks on the parents of a soldier who was killed in Iraq seemed to have crossed a line. In the intervening weeks, his tone has not been moderated so much as become familiar. When he praises Vladimir Putin (“If he says great things about me, I’m going to say great things about him”), or suggests that Hillary Clinton’s security detail be disarmed, many voters now just shrug. Mrs Clinton, meanwhile, had to absent herself briefly from the campaign trail after a bout of pneumonia. The bombs in New York and New Jersey probably helped the candidate calling for fortified borders and profiling of Muslims.7月的民主党全国代表大会之后，博彩市场认为唐纳德•特朗普成为美国第45任总统的可能性只有20%。他对牺牲在伊拉克的士兵的父母的攻击似乎越了界。在大会期间，他不加克制的言辞已成为常态：比如他赞美普京的时候说如果他夸了我，我就会夸他，或者建议希拉里撤销安全分队，现在选民们对这些已经习以为常。与此同时，希拉里因为感染了肺炎不得不短暂缺席一段时间。发生在纽约和新西兰的炸弹袭击事件让候选人要求加强边境管理提高对穆斯林的审查力度。

Intervening: adj.发生期间的，介于中间的Shrug：耸肩(表示不知道或不在乎)

Although the national polls have been edging closer for a while, what is even more striking is how polls of voters in individual states have tightened, sending forecasters scurrying torecalibrate their predictions (see article). Mrs Clinton is still the favourite, and Mr Trump has yet to score much above 40% in a national poll. But this is not because of any real enthusiasm for the Democratic candidate, who admits she is not much of a campaigner and has faced a barrage of questions about her trustworthiness. A higher proportion of voters are turned off by both of the main candidates in November than in any election since 1992, when Ross Perot mounted a strong third-party run, winning 19% of the vote.尽管双方在全国民意调查中的支持率暂时持平，但更令人吃惊的是他俩每个州分别得到选民投票也是相差不多。这种情况使得预测人士们纷纷重新调正他们的预测(详见文章)。希拉里女士仍然是民众心目中的最佳总统人选，特朗普先生的全国票数还未超过40%。但这并不是因为人们真正喜爱民主党的候选人。Clinton女士承认她不是一个好的竞选者，许多选民也认为她不值得信任。11月更大比例的选民都不支持这次参加竞选的两位主要候选人，这部分的选民人数要比1992年之后的任何一届选举中的都要多。1992年第三党(无党派)人士Ross Perot组建了一个竞选班子，以独立候选人的身份赢得了19%的选票。

Scurry: v.奋步疾跑Recalibrate: v.重新校准Mount: v.攀登;骑上;组织;安置

n.支架;坐骑;山峦 This time it is not a populist third party that is threatening to siphon off tens of millions of votes from the Republican and Democratic candidates, but powerful feelings of reluctance and repulsion. Many Americans would like to start over with two new candidates, which is not an option. After the most unpleasant election campaign for half a century, nearly 20% say they remain undecided or plan not to vote for the Democrat or the Republican. What these voters do in six weeks’ time will determine the outcome of the election.这次它不是一个威胁要取消拥有成千上万共和党和民主党候选人的选票的第三平民党，而是拥有强烈的不情愿和厌恶的感情的党。很多美国人想让两个新的候选人重新开始,这并不是一个好选择。半个世纪以来最不愉快的选举活动后，近20%的人说他们还未决定或没计划投票给民主党人或共和党人。这些选民在六个星期内所做的事情将决定选举的结果。 For those—including many lifelong Republicans—who are alarmed by Mr Trump’s recent advances in the polls, the first debate looks like a good opportunity for Mrs Clinton to win the waverers over. That may be wishful thinking. Throughout the campaign the two candidates have been judged by different standards. As a seasoned politico, Mrs Clinton is expected to deliver a polished performance. Mr Trump can exceed expectations just by not insulting lots of people or losing his temper. Interviewing him is like trying to catch fish in a fast-moving river with your bare hands. Debating against him will not be any easier.对于包括很多终生共和党员在内那些受到川普票选现状惊吓的人来说，首场辩论更像是给希拉里赢得犹豫选民选票的良好机会。这可能是一厢情愿。贯穿整场竞选活动，评定两位参选人有不同的标准。作为经验老道的政客，希拉里预计会交出精心修饰的表现。仅仅通过不伤害很多人民或者不发脾气，川普表现会超出预期。采访他就像试图徒手在急速流动的河水中抓鱼。希拉里想在辩论中击败他并非易事。

Besides, at a time when Americans are sick of politicians, Mrs Clinton is a near-perfect avatar for all the things they do not like about politics (see article). Even though he has been running for president for over a year, has taken in $166m in political donations and has a pollster in charge of his campaign, Mr Trump still manages to avoid being thought of as a politician. There is just a chance, however, that the debate next week and the ones that follow it will at long last turn attention to something that has been largely ignored in all the fuss over the candidates’ personalities: their actual policies.此外，在美国人厌恶很多政治家的时候，克林顿夫人在所有的事情上是一个近乎完美的化身，他们不喜欢政党之争(见文章)。尽管特朗普已经竞选总统一年多了，已花费1.66亿美元在政治捐款上，有一位民意调查员负责他的竞选活动，但他仍然想方设法地避免被认为是一个政客。然而，这只是一个机会，下周的辩论和后续事件最终将注意力转移到某件事上，即在很大程度上选举忽略了候选人的个性：他们真实的政策。 Chalk and cheese天壤之别Perhaps out of weary cynicism, many of the undecided look at Mr Trump and Mrs Clinton and think there is nothing to choose between them. This is not the case. In fact it is hard to think of two major-party candidates who have ever been as far apart on what they say they intend to do when installed in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue than this pair. For once it is not an exaggeration to say that this election is not just about who should be president, but about what sort of country America should be. And with all due respect to Gary Johnson, an affable libertarian, and Jill Stein, an environmentalist, there are only two candidates who can win. Americans who vote for a third party, or who abstain because they think politics is something that happens elsewhere, far removed from their daily lives, may be in for a surprise.

也许是由于厌倦了愤世嫉俗，许多犹豫不决的人看待特朗普先生和克林顿夫人，认为选择他们没有什么区别。情况不是这样的。(读者试译句)。冒昧的说，一个是和蔼可亲的自由主义者加里·约翰逊，一个是环保主义者吉尔·斯坦，两名候选人中只有一个能赢。美国人要么投给第三平民党，要么弃权，因为他们认为政治活动可以发生在任何远离了他们日常生活的地方，这也许会令人大吃一惊。