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奥巴马发起国会魅力攻势 望早日达成预算协议

President Barack Obama is spending more time with Republicans in Congress, hoping the change in tactics will lead them to compromise on the budget, immigration, gun control and other issues.

美国总统奥巴马最近频繁到国会山与国会议员见面，媒体称这是他向国会共和党展开的“魅力攻势”；奥巴马希望他的“魅力攻势”能够促使双方就预算、移民、枪支等问题达成协议。

If you've come to Washington for a tour of the White House, you're out of luck.

最近到华盛顿旅游的人别指望到白宫参观。

Because President Obama and Republicans in Congress could not agree on legislation to prevent automatic government spending cuts, White House tours are canceled for now, and many other government operations are on hold.

因为奥巴马总统与国会共和党人无法达成协议导致政府自动削减开支启动，白宫为了节省经费而取消了为游客提供的参观服务。除此之外，许多其它政府项目也被搁置。

So Obama is trying a new approach, which the media are calling a "charm offensive.

所以奥巴马总统使用了新的策略，也就是媒体所称的“魅力攻势”，与共和党人频繁接触。

He has made several trips to Capitol Hill to meet with Republican and Democratic lawmakers, and has even treated a group of Senate Republicans to dinner.

他最近数次上国会山与民主、共和两党议员见面，而且还招待好几位共和党参议员与他共进晚餐。

“Over the last several weeks, the press here in Washington has been reporting about ‘Obama’s charm offensive.’ ... [I'm] trying to see if we can break through some of the [nonsense] of our politics here," he said.

奥巴马总统在3月13号的一次讲话中说：“过去几个星期媒体都在报道奥巴马的魅力攻势，我希望我们能够停止只说不做的政治趋势。”

So far, the response from Republicans, including House Speaker John Boehner, has been cautiously positive.

到目前为止国会共和党人，包括众议院议长贝纳对奥巴马的魅力攻势采取了谨慎乐观的态度。

“Listen, I’m glad President Obama reached out yesterday and visited with our House Republican conference. And I think we had an honest discussion. But this is going to take more than dinner dates and phone calls," he said.

贝纳说：“我很高兴奥巴马总统昨天和共和党议员见面。我认为我们进行了坦诚的讨论。但是我们需要的还不止在一起吃吃饭和打电话这么简单。”

Former legislative¹ adviser² Steve Bell, now at Washington's Bipartisan Policy Council, thinks the president's shift in tactics is a good move. 

华盛顿“跨党派政策协会”的史蒂夫.贝尔认为，奥巴马总统的新策略是一个好的开端。

“Really, the effectiveness of the tactics of attacking Republicans and, I won’t use the word demeaning, but, you know, really being quite harsh on Republicans, was backfiring," he said.

他说：“我觉得那种严辞攻击共和党人的策略其实适得其反。”

President Obama's approval ratings in public opinion polls have slipped lately, and Bell says he now understands that he must work with Congress. "With his poll data going down a little bit, he’s intelligently changed his tactics, and it might bear some fruit," he said.

最近奥巴马总统的支持率稍有下降。贝尔说这使得他意识到必须与国会合作：“随着民众支持率下降，他很聪明地改变了策略，而且很有可能奏效。”

The president told backers that he wants to help Republican lawmakers overcome pressure from their party to avoid compromising with him. “Because I think a lot of them feel as if they don't have the opportunity to break out of some of this partisan³ gridlock," he said.

奥巴马总统说，共和党人担心如果与他妥协会引起党内人士反对，他要帮助共和党人克服这种压力：“因为他们当中很多人觉得没有机会突破这种党派僵局。”

While many in Washington are pessimistic about the chances for a deal in the coming months, Steve Bell predicts the Democratic-led Senate may reach agreements on a number of issues, which he says would prod⁴ House Republicans to do the same.

尽管华盛顿很多对于近期内达成协议抱着悲观态度，“跨党派政策协会”的贝尔预测，民主党控制的参议院可能会在一系列议题上达成协议，他说这将会促使共和党控制的众议院也有所行动。

"And it will then become incumbent⁵ on the House, led by Republicans by a relatively⁶ narrow margin⁷ but still led by Republicans, to say yes or no on immigration, yes or no on some sort of rational gun changes, yes or no on the grand bargain," he said.

贝尔说：“这种情况下，以相对微弱多数控制众议院的共和党人必须对移民、枪支控制，以及重大的预算问题表示支持或反对的态度。”

And if that happens, the White House doors will open again.

预算问题解决后，白宫的大门将再次对游客敞开。