Congressional leaders have had mixed reactions to President Barack Obama's first State of the Union speech. A number of Democratic lawmakers said the president's speech was hopeful and upbeat, while some Republicans accused the president of looking backwards and blaming his predecessor for the country's problems.
美国国会领袖们对奥巴马总统的国情咨文讲话作出了不同的反应。民主党议员说，奥巴马的讲话给人以希望和激励；而一些共和党议员则指责奥巴马纠缠过去，把问题归咎于前任布什总统。
President Obama's first State of the Union address came at a time when his Democratic Party is still reeling from a stinging defeat last week for a U.S. Senate seat in the heavily Democratic state, Massachusetts. Losing that seat in the Senate has hurt their chances of passing sweeping health care reform and unleashed a wave of anxiety ahead of congressional elections this November.
麻萨诸塞州本来是民主党占相当优势的州，但民主党却在上星期的参议员选举中输给了共和党候选人，令民主党倍感挫折。奥巴马总统正是在这种情况下发表他的第一次国情咨文讲话的。失去了参议院的这个席位使通过大规模医疗改革计划的机会变得难上加难。此外，这一失败还使民主党人对今年11月的国会选举倍加担心。
The president referred directly to last week's political setback, acknowledging that voters have a right to be angry. But he told his fellow Democrats that they still have large majorities in both houses of Congress, and that they need to govern, instead of "running for the hills [retreating]." He called on both Democrats and Republicans to overcome their bitter partisan divisions and work together to pass legislation to solve problems.
奥巴马在国情咨文中也直接提到了上星期的失败，坦承选民有权表达他们的愤怒。但是，他也强调民主党仍然在国会参众两院占多数，他们仍然要担负起领导的责任，而不是要退缩。他呼吁民主党和共和党放弃党派分歧，携手解决国家面临的一系列问题。
"What frustrates the American people is a Washington where every day is election day," he said. "We cannot wage a perpetual campaign where the only goal is to see who can get the most embarrassing headlines about the other side. A belief 'if you lose, I win.'"
奥巴马总统说：“令美国人民不满的是，华盛顿似乎天天都在举行选举。我们不能永无休止地竞选，唯一的目的就是看谁能让另一方在媒体上最难堪。不能认为‘你输了就是我赢了’”。
Republican Senator Bob Corker told VOA that the president's tone was cordial, but that the speech lacked specifics on ways to reach out to work with Republicans.
共和党参议员考克对美国之音说，奥巴马总统讲话的基调是友好的，但是在如何跟共和党合作的问题上缺乏具体内容。
"I had hoped for more," said Corker. "Certainly the tone was nice, but it just did not seem to me that on the issue of policies it just did not seem to me he really learned a great deal in the last couple of week.
考克说：“我本来是抱有更大希望的。他的基调当然很友善，但对我来说在他的政策这个问题上，他过去两个星期来没有吸取很多教训。”
Republican Senator Jon Kyl described the speech as too partisan, saying it sounded like a campaign speech instead of a State of the Union speech. Kyl said the president was still blaming former President George Bush for the country's problems, even though he did not mention him by name.
另一位共和党参议员凯尔则认为奥巴马的讲话党派色彩过重，像一篇竞选演讲，而不是国情咨文。凯尔说，奥巴马虽然没有直接提到前总统布什的名字，但实际上仍然把很多问题归罪于他的前任。
"After more than a year, take ownership of the problems you have," he said. "You campaigned for president to solve these problems, so stop complaining about the mess that you inherited."
他说：“现在都过去一年多了，自己的问题应该自己承担起来了。你竞选总统就是要解决这些问题的，所以别再抱怨以前留下来的问题了。”
Democrats, on the other hand, praised the president for being hopeful and for focusing on jobs - the top issue for most voters. Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu told VOA she did not think it was a partisan political speech at all.
在另一方面，民主党议员则称赞奥巴马的讲话给人以希望，并且着重谈到了对大部分选民来说最重要的就业问题。民主党参议员兰德鲁对美国之音说，她不认为奥巴马的讲话带有任何党派色彩。
"The president was upbeat. He deserves a lot of credit. I was particularly happy to hear his focus," said Landreiu. "At least 15 times mentioned small business, "main street", helping middle class families, jobs. I think that really is what we need to be focused on.
她说：“总统的讲话非常积极向上，应该充分肯定。尤其是他的重点令人特别感到欣慰，他至少有15次提到了小企业，主流社会，帮助中产阶级的家庭，创造就业机会，而这正是我们需要集中经历解决的问题。”
President Obama got the most applause from opposition Republicans when he said the number-one focus in the coming year would be on creating jobs and giving a boost to small businesses. But he got more applause from the Democratic side of the aisle than the Republican side when he called for Congress to pass a jobs creation bill and get it to his desk as quickly as possible.
在奥巴马总统提到今年他的头等大事就是创造就业机会、鼓励小企业发展时，共和党人的掌声最为明显。但在他呼吁国会尽快通过一项创造就业机会议案让他签字时，大部分掌声则来自与民主党这一方。 |