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奥巴马盼望2014重振威风

2014 will be a busy political year in the United States. President Barack Obama will outline his policy priorities when he delivers his State of the Union address on January 28. In November, voters will head to the polls to elect a new Congress, an outcome with potentially enormous political stakes for the president, as well as for lawmakers from both major political parties.

2014年是美国政治活动繁忙的一年，奥巴马总统1月28号发表国情咨文讲话时，将阐述美国政策的重点。11月，选民们将前往投票站选举新国会，选举结果可能给奥巴马总统和国会主要两党议员带来巨大的政治影响。

During last year's State of the Union address, Obama enjoyed a warm reception, fresh off his 2012 re-election victory.

奥巴马总统2012年连任成功，他在去年的国情咨文演讲时受到热情对待。

“There is much progress to report,” said the president.

奥巴马总统说： “我要报告很多进展。”

But 2013 proved to be a difficult political year for the president, primarily because of the rocky launch of his health care law.

可是2013年，奥巴马的政治旅途很艰难，主要因为他的医保改革出师不利。

Economic focus

Obama hopes to shift the focus this year to narrowing the income gap between the very rich and the middle class.

奥巴马希望今年把重点转移到缩小富人和中产阶级之间收入的差距上。

“In other words, we have got to make sure that this recovery leaves nobody behind and we have got a lot of work to do on that front,” he said.

奥巴马总统说：“换句话说，经济复苏不能让任何人落下，在这方面我们有很多工作要做。”

Republicans are expected to continue to hammer away at the president’s health care law this year, said Republican strategist Ron Bonjean. “It is health care at this point. It is the incompetence¹ going on within the Obama administration on how that is being handled.”

共和党策略家罗恩·邦让说，预计共和党今年将继续攻击奥巴马的医保改革法。邦让说：“目前的问题是医保，是奥巴马政府内部在处理这个问题上的无能。”

Slowing the growth of social welfare programs also is a Republican priority, according to House Speaker John Boehner.

美国国会众议院议长贝纳说，减缓社会福利项目的增长也是共和党的重点。

“The president refuses, and Democrats², refuse to discuss changes to those programs unless Republicans are willing to raise taxes. We are not going to raise taxes,” said Boehner.

贝纳议长说：“总统和民主党拒绝讨论改革那些项目，除非共和党同意增加税收。我们不会增加税收。”

Expect Obama to highlight some encouraging signs in the U.S. economy and the issue of income disparity, said Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution.

布鲁金斯学会的托马斯·曼恩说，预计奥巴马总统将强调美国经济中一些鼓舞人心的迹象和收入差距问题。

“How is the economy doing, and that is both jobs and growth and wages. But behind that is economic inequality and the ‘Two Americas’ issue,” said Mann.

曼恩说：“经济表现是要看就业和工资增长，可是背后的问题是经济地位不平等和‘两个美国’的问题。”

Political maneuvering³

Second-term presidents often have trouble regaining⁴ their political clout⁵, said analyst⁶ John Fortier. “Usually presidents see their popularity ebb⁷ away a bit. They are often facing a Congress of the other party or at least part of the Congress, and so the president does not have the ability to work his agenda through the Congress as he did at the beginning of his first term.”

两党政策中心的政治分析家约翰·福捷说，总统连任的第二个任期通常面临如何恢复政治影响力的问题。福捷说：“通常连任总统的支持率会降低一点，他们通常面临反对党控制的国会，至少部分国会议员的反对，所以总统不能像新上任时那样在国会中推行他的议程。”

Also, Fortier added that political battles leading up to the November congressional elections are likely to dominate this year.

福捷说，今年很可能被11月国会选举前的政治斗争所主宰。

“The long term trend in midterm elections is that they go against the president. I think the big question for Republicans is 'can they get enough seats to win the Senate?'” said Fortier.

福捷说:“长期以来，中期选举的趋势是对总统不利的。我想，共和党的大问题是他们是否可以赢得足够席位来控制参议院。”

All 435 seats in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives will be at stake this year, along with one-third of the Democratically-controlled Senate and 36 state governorships.

今年，共和党控制的国会众议院的全部435个席位，和参议院中民主党控制的3分之1席位，以及36个州的州长将要重新选举。