美国共和党人试图改变总统竞选中人们所关注的焦点。来自共和党人的新一轮攻击把矛头指向民主党候选人奥巴马参议员的背景，对他是否适合担任总统表示怀疑。

　　Senator McCain's vice presidential running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, stepped up the attacks Monday during a campaign rally in Florida.

　　共和党总统候选人麦凯恩参议员的副总统竞选夥伴、阿拉斯加州州长佩林星期一在佛罗里达州的一次竞选集会中加紧了对对手的攻击。

　　Palin highlighted Obama's past links with a former 1960s radical, Bill Ayers, who was part of the so-called Weather Underground that set off bombs in government buildings to protest the Vietnam War.

　　佩林指出，奥巴马曾结交上个世纪60年代的极端主义人士艾瑞斯。艾瑞斯曾是左翼组织“地下天气”的成员。这个组织为了抗议越南战争而策划了几起针对政府办公楼的炸弹袭击。

　　"His own top adviser said that they were, quote, certainly friendly," she said. "In fact, Obama held one of his first meetings of his political career in Bill Ayer's living room. I am just so fearful that this is not a man who sees America the way that you and I see America, as the greatest source for good in this world."

　　佩林说：“奥巴马自己的顾问说，奥巴马和艾瑞斯‘非常友好’。事实上，奥巴马政治生涯的最初几次会议是在艾瑞斯的客厅里召开的。我担心，奥巴马对美国的看法不同于你我，他并不把美国看成世界上最美好事物的源泉。”

　　Ayers is now a college professor who lives in Obama's neighborhood in Chicago. Ayers served with Obama on two charity boards and hosted a reception for him in 1995.

　　艾瑞斯目前是一名大学教授，他住在芝加哥，和奥巴马的家在一个社区。艾瑞斯和奥巴马曾经在两个慈善理事会共事，他还在1995年为奥巴马办了一个招待会。

　　Obama has denounced Ayer's radical past and the Obama campaign says the two men are not close.

　　奥巴马谴责艾瑞斯过去的激进行为。他的竞选班子也说，两人并不接近。

　　During a campaign stop in North Carolina, Obama accused the McCain campaign of trying a new tactic in order to avoid talking about the weakened U.S. economy, which the polls suggest is the top issue for voters this year.

　　奥巴马在北卡罗来那州的一次集会上指责麦凯恩阵营企图使用新的伎俩，目的是避免谈论衰弱的美国经济问题，而民意调查显示，今年选民最关心的就是经济问题。

　　"His campaign has announced that they plan to, and I quote, turn the page on the discussion about our economy and spend the final weeks of this campaign launching Swiftboat-style attacks on me," he said.

　　奥巴马说：“麦凯恩的竞选班子宣布说，他们计划结束对美国经济的讨论，利用竞选的最后几周里对我发动‘快艇’式的攻击。”

　　The Obama campaign is also striking back at McCain. The campaign launched an Internet ad reminding voters that the Senate Ethics Committee rebuked McCain for using poor judgment because of his involvement with former banker Charles Keating, a convicted felon at the heart of the U.S. savings and loan scandal of the late 1980s.

　　奥巴马的竞选班子也对麦凯恩发动了回击。他们在互联网上播放广告，提醒选民，参议院道德委员会曾谴责麦凯恩缺乏正确的判断力，这是因为他和上个世纪80年代末美国储蓄贷款丑闻的主犯、前银行家查尔斯.基廷有联系。

　　Surrogates for both candidates are predicting a nastier tone to the campaign as it enters the final weeks.

　　"He has been critical not only of the president, but of American policy, and he has kind of a negative view of America in the world," said Republican Congresswoman Heather Wilson of New Mexico, who appeared on the CBS program Face the Nation.

　　Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California says she expects more personal attacks against Obama in the weeks to come. Feinstein also spoke on Face the Nation.

　　"He's leading in the polls and he's leading in most of the battleground states, and this is going to be a month, I think, of character assassination," she said.

　　Political experts say the focus on the U.S. financial crisis has helped Obama surge past McCain in public opinion polls. They say McCain will now try to shift the election debate away from the economy to questions about Obama's character.

　　政治专家们说，对美国金融危机的关注帮助奥巴马在民意调查中超过了麦凯恩。他们说，麦凯恩目前试图把选举辩论的焦点从经济转移到奥巴马的品行上去。

　　"What this has done is refocus the campaign on pocket book issues, and historically that kind of focus helps Democrats," said Tom DeFrank, Washington bureau chief for the New York Daily News and a guest on VOA's Issues in the News program. "And we have seen in the last ten days a significant shift away from McCain and towards Obama, and I think it is directly related to the economic fears."

　　纽约每日新闻报华盛顿新闻处处长德弗兰克在美国之音的“新闻议题”节目中说：“他们所作的是把人们的注意力重新集中在自己的钱包上，从历史上看，这种做法是对民主党有利的。在过去10天中，我们看到民众的支持明显地从麦凯恩转向奥巴马，我认为这和人们对经济状况的担心有直接关系。”

　　Senator McCain's next best opportunity to change the focus of the campaign comes Tuesday when he and Senator Obama meet for their second presidential debate in Nashville, Tennessee.

　　麦凯恩要改变竞选焦点的下一个好机会是这个星期二和奥巴马举行的第二次总统辩论。这次辩论将在田纳西州的那什维尔举行。

　　Tuesday's debate will feature a town hall format where members of the audience will ask questions, a format that Senator McCain prefers.

　　星期二的辩论将采取市镇会议的形式，现场的观众可以向候选人提问。麦凯恩喜欢这种辩论形式。

　　Obama and McCain will take part in one last debate on October 15 at Hofstra University in New York. The election is November 4.

　　奥巴马和麦凯恩10月15号将在纽约的霍夫斯特拉大学举行最后一场辩论。总统大选将在11于4号举行。