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美国总统大选前选民情绪

Outside the growing city of Charlotte, North Carolina - host to the 2012 Democratic National Convention - a different section of America watches. Kane Farabaugh looks at how people who live just a few hours west of the convention, in the region known as Appalachia, view the political conventions, and the state of the race for President.

在2012年民主党全国代表大会隆重举行的同时，在会场以西几个小时车程的地方，不同阶层的人们正密切关注着这次大会。这是在田纳西州的阿巴拉契亚，那里的人们怎么看待北卡罗来纳州夏洛特的这次政治大会呢？

Rural Roane County Tennessee sits in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.

以农业为主的田纳西州罗恩县坐落在阿巴拉契亚山下。

"It's really the heart of the bible belt," says Gary Johnston of Roane County Tea Party. "A lot of churches."

Though not far from the Democratic National Convention in the neighboring state of North Carolina, retired² musician Gary Johnston says the gap in views between those who live here, and those assembled to nominate President Barack Obama for a second term, are wide.

虽然这里离邻州北卡的民主党全国代表大会举行地点不远，退休的音乐家加里·约翰斯顿说，住在这里的人们的看法，同聚集在那里提名奥巴马总统竞选连任的人们的看法，有天壤之别。

"I believe this country is doomed³ if this President is elected for four more years," he adds.

他说，“我相信，如果本届总统赢得竞选再连任四年，这个国家就注定要完蛋了。”

Johnston is not happy with President Obama's health care legislation, which requires more Americans to purchase health insurance or face penalties. He is also upset with stimulus⁴ programs put in place during the Presidents term in office. He is so passionately⁵ opposed to President Obama, that he joined fellow conservative activists⁶ to buy a billboard⁷ saying "Obama or America - You can't have both."

约翰斯顿对奥巴马总统的医保法案不满。这个法案要求更多的美国人购买医疗保险，否则将面临罚款。他还对奥巴马任期内出台的刺激经济计划感到恼怒。他还特别反对奥巴马总统，因此和其他的保守派活动人士一道，买了个广告牌，“要奥巴马，还是要美国，二者不能兼得。”

"It means that you can either have America as you know it, or you can choose to keep this President and America will forever be changed," he says.

他说： “这意味着，你要么要你所知道的现在的美国，或者你可以选择留住这个总统，那美国就将因此而永远改变了。”

“I think some of these things are near treasonous quite frankly,” says teacher Gloria Johnson, a Democrat¹, passes the billboard on her way into the nearby city of Knoxville, where she faces an uphill battle in her race for a seat in the Republican controlled Tennessee legislature.

民主党人格罗丽亚·约翰逊是一名教师，正在竞选州议员。她在前往临近的城市诺克斯维尔的途中看到这块广告牌。在共和党控制的田纳西州议会中，她要获得一席，困难重重。

“It is tough to be the underdog sometimes,” says Johnson.

她说：“有时身为弱势处经挺难的。”

In a part of the country where voters have recently elected more Republicans into state office, Johnson is hoping to get a boost from younger Democrats⁸ in Knoxville, like students at the University of Tennessee. But she knows that in order to win in November, she needs to win over some Republican voters.

在美国的田纳西州，选民们最近选举了更多的共和党人担任州政府的公职，约翰逊希望从诺克斯维尔的年轻人那里获得支持，如田纳西州大学的学生。但是她知道，为了赢得11月的胜利，她需要赢得一些共和党选民的支持。

“Most of my family are Republicans, and I don’t think that they feel Mitt⁹ Romney is somebody who represents them," says Johnson. "A lot of Tennesseans don’t feel like Mitt Romney represents them.”

她说：“我们家大多数人都是共和党人，我并不认为他们觉得罗姆尼是能代表他们的人。很多田纳西人不认为罗姆尼能代表他们。”

Gary Johnston says many people throughout lower income Appalachian communities in East Tennessee don’t identify with the Republican nominee¹⁰ for President because Mitt Romney is wealthy and doesn't know what its like to be unemployed¹¹.

约翰斯顿说，在田纳西州东部的诺克斯维尔社区，很多低收入的人们并不支持共和党的总统候选人，因为罗姆尼富有，不了解失业是怎么一回事儿。

“I’ll begrudgingly¹² vote for him, though I think he’s a good man,” said Johnston.

他说，“我会不情愿地投他一票，尽管我认为他是个好人。”

Johnston says he is starting to warm up to both Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan after watching television coverage¹³ of the Republican National Convention in Tampa which he said "humanized" the Republican ticket.

约翰斯顿说，在观看了在坦帕举行的共和党全国代表大会电视转播后，他开始对罗姆尼和瑞安有热情了。他说，这次大会使共和党这对搭档‘人性化’了。

Gloria Johnson hopes the same happens for President Obama in Charlotte, where as a delegate from Tennessee, she plans to cast her vote for his nomination¹⁴ for a second term as President.

但是约翰逊希望，奥巴马将再次在夏洛特获得胜利，而她作为一个田纳西州的代表，她计划投票支持奥巴马再任一届总统。