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　　Russia's presidential election, now just over two weeks away, features five main candidates, but the vote is widely seen as the vehicle for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to take over as head of state once again. His four opponents, outwardly still hopeful about their chances, are filling the air waves with confident advertising¹, but some viewers think even the challengers have scant² hope of victory.
俄罗斯将于3月4日举行总统选举。目前有5位主要候选人。分析人士普遍认为，普京将借助这次选举重登国家元首宝座。不过，他的四名竞选对手表面上看仍然对选战抱有希望，他们用充满自信的竞选广告对普京展开猛烈攻击。但一些观察者认为，挑战者胜出的机会非常渺茫。
Vladimir Zhirinovsky is running for president of Russia for the fifth time since 1991.
这是弗拉德米尔·日里诺夫斯基从1991年来第五次竞选总统。
In his TV ads, he whips a stubborn donkey. He shouts: “This lousy little donkey is a symbol of our country.”
在他的电视竞选广告里，他在用鞭子抽打一头倔强的驴。他一边抽一边喊，这个蠢货是我们国家的象征。
The Carnegie Endowment's Moscow analyst³, Masha Lipman, wonders whether Zhirinovsky really wants to win the presidential election:
莫斯科卡内基基金会的分析师马莎·里普曼说，很难弄清楚日里诺夫斯基是否真的想当总统。
“He is whipping a donkey, saying Russia is backward," Lipman said. "So is Russia a donkey? Using his whip to make it move. And he exclaims in exasperation⁴: 'It wouldn’t even move!' Then it ends ... with the phrase [Vote for] ‘Zhirinovsky and everything will be fine.’ Which is how he sees Russia today. Which is kind of insulting.”
她说：“他在抽一头驴，说俄罗斯落后。所以，俄罗斯在他看来就是一头驴吗？不打就不走。他还高喊，这东西甚至不肯挪动一下。然后广告结尾，日里诺夫斯基说，‘给我投票，一切平安’。这就是他对今天俄罗斯的看法，这有点侮辱的意味。”
Communist Party candidate Gennady Zyuganov is running for the fourth time since 1996. His fast-paced TV ad shows images of modern Russia.
Lipman's view: “This Russia is beautiful and grand. This is Russia of big and shiny factories, of beautiful plains and mountains. In every way this is a great and beautiful country, which is somewhat controversial, as it make him look as if he has been president already. If everything looks so good, what is the whole point of competing with the person who rules it?”
对此，里普曼表示：“在久加诺夫的电视广告里，俄罗斯壮美辽阔。画面展示了俄罗斯先进的工厂、美丽的平原和山脉。从很多方面来说，俄罗斯的确是一个美丽富饶的国家。但广告这样拍有点争议性，因为这看起来好象他已经成了总统。如果一切如此理想，那他为什么还要来争当总统。”
Mr. Putin served two terms as president before, stepping down only because the constitution bars a head of state from serving three consecutive⁵ terms. He has since been prime minister, but his successor as president, Dmitry Medvedev, deferred⁶ his own political ambitions to allow Mr. Putin to return to the top job at the Kremlin.
Zyuganov, running second at this point in the presidential race, has his own challenger in Mikhail Prokhorov, a billionaire who is rising in opinion polls. Prokhorov's confident appearance and message appeals to Russia’s growing liberal middle class. He says a new Russia needs a new president.
“A president who returns our belief in ourselves," he says. "Demand more: Mikhail Prokhorov. New president, new Russia!”
Sergei Mironov, candidate of the Fair Russia party, takes up an anti-corruption⁷ theme in his ad: Mironov says, “we need to change those in power, and I’ll fight them till the end.”
公平俄罗斯党候选人塞尔盖·米洛诺夫在他的竞选广告中主攻反腐议题。他说，我们必须更换掌权者，我要和他们斗争到底。
Despite those fighting words, Mironov did not join the tens of thousands of Russians who protested against corruption in a mass rally in Moscow on February 4.
尽管措辞激昂，但米洛诺夫并没有在2月4日那天和数万名俄罗斯人一道，在莫斯科参加反腐败集会。
In the world of TV ads, the missing face belongs to the fifth candidate, Vladimir Putin.
在铺天盖地的竞选广告中，唯独不见普京的面孔。
At Moscow’s State Historical Library, Elena Strukova curates a show of Russian political advertisements created for elections in the 20 years since the Soviet⁸ Union collapsed⁹. Once Mr. Putin became the official candidate, she says advertising in support of him became unnecessary.
Mr. Putin’s everyday activities dominate Russia’s daily news programs, so advertising might be seen as overkill.
她说，普京每天的活动充斥了俄罗斯的新闻节目，再播广告纯属多余。
In Russia, the candidate who is not advertising may be the candidate who wins the race.
而在俄罗斯，不播广告的候选人，往往在最后胜出。