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　　A senior advisor¹ to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee² Barack Obama says the party's ticket has been strengthened by the selection of Senator Joe Biden for vice³ president. Obama named Biden as his running mate two days before the start of the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.
美国民主党总统候选人奥巴马的一位高级顾问说，奥巴马选择拜登为自己的竞选副手，民主党人的竞选组合因此得到了加强。奥巴马是在民主党在科罗拉多丹佛市召开全国大会的两天前提名拜登为自己的竞选搭档的。
The choice of running mate is, arguably, the most important decision a presidential candidate must make before the election, one that provides hints as to how the potential commander-in-chief would make decisions and ultimately govern the nation, if elected.
选择竞选夥伴可以说是一个总统候选人在大选前必须作出的最重要的决定。这个决定对选举获胜后，这位未来的统帅将如何决策，乃至最终如何管理这个国家提供了种种暗示。
Barack Obama has tapped Delaware Senator Joe Biden, who has served for six consecutive⁴ terms and is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
奥巴马选择了德拉瓦州参议员拜登。 拜登连续六届担任联邦参议员，目前是国会参议院外交关系委员会主席。
A senior Obama advisor, Robert Gibbs, says Biden fulfills⁵ the most important duty of a vice president: the ability to serve as president should the need arise.
奥巴马的高级顾问罗伯特.吉布斯说，拜登能履行副总统人选的最重要职责，那就是，在必要时有能力承担起总统的责任。
"Senator Biden has unparalleled foreign policy experience. We [the Obama campaign] hired him for his judgment⁶ to lead this country, if something happens to Barack Obama, and the judgment and the advice that he will give to the next president of the United States. And, we think we have a fabulous⁷ pick. We have got someone who has not forgotten where they are from, and someone who can help rebuild this country," said Gibbs, who was speaking on the Fox News Sunday television program.
吉布斯说：“拜登参议员拥有无与伦比的外交政策经验。我们选择他就是因为如果奥巴马发生了什么事，他拥有领导国家的决断力，以及他能给美国下一任总统提供建议和判断。我认为，我们的选择非常棒。我们得到了一个没有忘记他从何处来，一个可以帮助重建这个国家的人。”吉布斯是在“福克斯星期天新闻”节目中发表上述讲话的。
Polls show Americans generally view Obama as the candidate who most represents change and a break from the status quo. But polls also show a majority of Americans view his Republican rival, John McCain, as more experienced and better equipped to serve as commander-in-chief.
民意测验显示，美国人普遍认为奥巴马是最能代表变革和打破现状的候选人。但是，民调同时显示，大部分美国人认为，他的共和党对手约翰.麦凯恩更有经验，更具备统帅全国的能力。
Since Saturday, numerous political analysts⁸ have commented that Biden helps counteract⁹ Obama's perceived weakness on governance, but that, as someone who has served in Congress for more than three decades, Biden also blunts Obama's overriding¹⁰ message of bringing change to Washington.
星期六以来，为数不少的政治分析人士评论，拜登将有助于平衡奥巴马一直以来被认为在管理国家方面的弱点，但是，作为一个在国会服务了30多年的人，拜登同时也削弱了奥巴马竞选中最突出的主题，那就是为华盛顿带来变革的信息。
Already, the McCain campaign has released advertisements pointing out instances during the primary season in which Biden, suggested Obama lacked the experience needed to be president. Biden was competing with Obama and others for the Democratic nomination¹¹ at the time, but dropped out of the race early on. McCain ads have also attacked Obama for passing over his fiercest primary rival, New York Senator Hillary Clinton, for the vice presidential slot.
麦凯恩竞选团队播放的广告已经指出，在民主党初选季节，拜登曾暗示奥巴马缺乏当总统所需要的经验。当时，拜登和其他候选人与奥巴马一起角逐民主党总统候选人提名，但是他后来早早退出了竞选。麦凯恩的广告还攻击奥巴马不考虑他在初选中的最强硬的对手、纽约州参议员希拉里.克林顿为副总统人选。
Former New York Mayor Rudi Giuliani, who competed against John McCain in the Republican primaries, echoed that message on ABC's This Week program.
前纽约市长朱利安尼在共和党总统提名争夺战中是麦凯恩的对手。他在美国广播公司的“本周”节目中也表达了类似的观点。
"Senator Obama has made a choice more out of weakness than strength. It is quite clear [that] the strong choice would have been Hillary Clinton. The obvious choice would have been Hillary Clinton. She had 50 percent of the Democratic vote [in the primaries]; Obama had 50 percent of the Democratic vote," said Giuliani.
朱利安尼说：“奥巴马参议员的选择更多地是考虑(人选的)劣势，而不是优势。很明显，更强的选择应该是希拉里.克林顿。显而易见他应该选择希拉里.克林顿。她在初选中赢得了民主党50%的选票。奥巴马也赢得了50%。”
Recent polls show roughly one-in-five who voted for Clinton in the primaries favor McCain over Obama, despite repeated Clinton statements urging her supporters to rally behind the presumptive Democratic nominee.
最近的民调显示，尽管克林顿一再发表声明鼓励自己的支持者支持民主党总统候选人，但是，在初选中选择克林顿的人当中有大约五分之一更倾向于麦凯恩，而不是奥巴马。
Whether the Democrats¹² can unite as a party during this week's national convention after a bruising¹³ primary season remains¹⁴ to be seen. Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod, gave a preview of the core message that will be heard at the convention, beginning with Obama's personal story.
民主党在经历了伤痕累累的初选季节后，能否在这个星期举行的全国大会上全党团结一致，还有待观察。奥巴马的首席战略顾问戴维.阿克塞尔罗德披露了民主党全国大会的核心信息。他首先谈到奥巴马的个人经历。
"The son of a single mother, working his way up, and then going back to work in communities that were felled by steel plant closings, we are going to tell that story. But we are also going to tell the story about what has happened to the country under the policies we have seen under the broken politics of Washington. We are not going to shy away from making a contrast," said Axelrod.
他说：“单亲妈妈养大的孩子，脚踏实地努力工作，然后来到因钢铁工业倒闭而满目萧条的社区工作--我们会告诉民众这个故事 。我们同时也会告诉民众我们看到的华盛顿支离破碎的政治所导致的政策给我们国家带来的一切。我们将对此进行对照。”
The Republican National Convention begins next week. The McCain campaign has hinted that the Arizona Senator could name his running mate as early as this Friday, the day after the close of the Democratic National Convention.
共和党全国大会下星期召开。麦凯恩竞选团队已经暗示，这位来自亚利桑那州的参议员将最早在星期五宣布自己的竞选夥伴。民主党全国大会也在同一天结束。