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Voters in the southern state of Mississippi are going to the polls in that state's Democratic Party presidential primary. Opinion polls put Senator Barack Obama in first place, but, Senator Hillary Clinton is likely to almost evenly split the state's 33 delegates.

美国南方的密西西比州星期二举行民主党总统初选。民意调查显示，奥巴马参议员在这个州领先。不过，克林顿参议员可能几乎同奥巴马平分这个州的33张党代表票。

More than half of Mississippi's Democratic voters are African-Americans, a segment of the voting population that has favored Barack Obama in past contests and they are expected to help him win Tuesday's primary as well. Obama, whose father was from Kenya and whose mother was white, is likely to win more than half the votes, but Hillary Clinton will take away almost as many delegates.

密西西比州民主党选民有一半以上是非洲裔美国人。而非洲裔选民在过去的选举中是支持奥巴马的。预计这些选民将帮助他赢得星期二的初选。奥巴马的父亲来自肯尼亚，母亲是白人。奥巴马可能会赢得半数以上的选票。但是克林顿可能将获得将近一半的党代表票。

In Democratic contests the delegates are divided proportionally according the number of votes won by each candidate. Clinton is behind Obama by about 100 delegates at this point, but she is counting on a big win in Pennsylvania, which holds its primary on April 22. Polls show she has an advantage there.

在民主党的竞选中，党代表票是按照竞选人得票的比例分配的。目前克林顿的党代表票比奥巴马少大约100张。但是她期待在宾夕法尼亚州以很大优势取胜。宾州将在4月22号举行初选。民调显示克林顿在宾州拥有优势。

Mississippi is a poor state and often lands at or near the bottom of national lists on such matters as rural poverty, educational achievement and school financing. Issue of concern for voters include the economy, health care, job creation and the war in Iraq.

密西西比是一个贫穷州。在那里，乡村贫穷、教育成就和学校的财政支持大都处于全国最低的水平或者接近最低的水平。该州选民关心的问题包括经济、保健、创造就业和伊拉克战争。

On the eve of the Mississippi primary, as both candidates appeared around the state, a controversy¹ flared² over Clinton remarks that seemed to suggest she would be willing to name Obama as her running mate.

密西西比州初选前夕，两位民主党竞选人都到那里竞选。克林顿的言论显示，克林顿愿意选择奥巴马作自己的竞选夥伴。这些言论引起了一场争议。

"I have had people say to me, 'I wish I could vote for both of you.' Well, that might be possible some day," she said.

克林顿说：“有些人对我讲，‘我希望能投你们两个人的票’。我看，有一天这会成为可能。”

Obama responded by rejecting the notion that he would accept the second-place spot on the ticket with Clinton.

奥巴马的反应是，拒绝接受作克林顿的副总统竞选夥伴的设想。

"I do not know how somebody who is in second place is offering the vice³ presidency⁴ to someone who is in first place," he said.

奥巴马说：“首先，我不明白，在竞选中处于第二位的人怎么会提出，让处于第一位的人当副总统竞选夥伴呢？”

Obama is also expressing irritation⁵ over assertions by Clinton that he is not experienced enough to take on the job of commander in chief. He questioned how Clinton could see him as a potential vice presidential candidate if she does not believe he is ready for such responsibility.

奥巴马还对克林顿断言说他没有足够的经验担任三军统帅表示恼怒。奥巴马问到，如果克林顿不相信他作好了担负作三军统帅责任的准备，那么克林顿怎么会认为他有能力担任副总统候选人？

Democratic leaders are concerned that such rhetorical skirmishes between the two candidates may help Republicans by giving them ideas on how to attack whichever of the two wins the Democratic nomination⁶. Senator John McCain, who has clinched⁷ the Republican nomination, has been able to concentrate on building his team and financial resources for the November election, while the Democrats⁸ still struggle to finalize⁹ their selection process.

根据美国宪法，总统如有意外，副总统自动接替总统职务。民主党领导人担心，两位总统竞选人之间这种唇枪舌剑式的互相抨击可能会帮助共和党，因为这可能提醒共和党怎样攻击奥巴马和克林顿两人中胜出的民主党候选人。麦凯恩参议员已经获得了共和党的提名。他在集中建立自己的团队和财政资源，为11月大选作准备。民主党仍然在竭力完成该党推举候选人的过程。