With just two weeks to go until Election Day, U.S. presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain are campaigning in states that could decide the election on November 4. An aide to Barack Obama says he will suspend his campaign later this week in order to travel to Hawaii to visit his grandmother, who the aide says is gravely ill.
现在离美国总统大选还有两个星期，候选人奥巴马和麦凯恩都在11月4号投票日决定胜负的州展开竞选活动。
In the final days of the campaign, both candidates are targeting key states that will play a major role in the state by state electoral vote that will determine who becomes the next president.
在竞选总统的最后冲刺时刻，两位候选人都瞄准了可以扮演关键角色的一些州，这些州的选举人票可以决定该州的走向，而选举人票才是决定谁能当选总统的关键。
Republican John McCain was in Missouri on Monday, a state that has a history of backing the winning candidate in presidential elections.
The latest polls show McCain and Democrat Barack Obama virtually tied in Missouri, and McCain sought to make headway by continuing to hammer away at Senator Obama's tax cut proposal.
最新的民调显示，麦凯恩和民主党的奥巴马在密苏里州实际上打了平手，而麦凯恩则继续抨击奥巴马参议员的减税提议，希望在这方面有所收获。
"Senator Obama's economic goal is that he wants to spread the wealth around," he said. "He believes in redistributing wealth, not in policies that grow our economy and create jobs and opportunities for all Americans. Senator Obama is more interested in controlling who gets your piece of the pie than in growing the pie!"
他说：“奥巴马参议员的经济目标是把财富分散开来。他相信财富的再分配，而不是通过制定政策来增长经济、 为所有美国人都带来工作和机会。奥巴马参议员更感兴趣的是控制财富分配，而不是增加经济总产出！”
Obama says he would provide a tax cut for 95 percent of working families, but would increase taxes for families that make more than $250,000 a year.
奥巴马说，他将为95%的工薪家庭提供减税，但是要给年收入超过25万美元的家庭增税。
Senator McCain's vice presidential running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, campaigned against Obama in Colorado.
麦凯恩参议员的副总统竞选夥伴，阿拉斯加的州长撒拉·佩林在科罗拉多竞选时矛头指向奥巴马。
"It is not mean-spirited and it is not negative campaigning when someone is called out on their record, on their plans and on their associations," she said.
她说，“公布一个人的纪录，他的提议以及他的背景这并不是出于恶意，不是负面的竞选宣传。”
Colorado is seen as another so-called "battleground" or "swing" state because the race is close there. Both campaigns have poured resources into Colorado in hopes of winning the state's nine electoral votes. A candidate is required to garner 270 electoral votes to win the presidency, out of a total of 538 representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
科罗拉多被看作一个“决胜州”，或者是“摇摆州”，因为在这里，两位候选人的支持者旗鼓相当。两个选举阵营都在科罗拉多投入了大量的资源，希望赢得这个州的9张选举人票。赢得总统选举必须获得270张选举人票，全国50个州和华盛顿特区总共有538张选举人票。
Democrat Barack Obama focused on the southern state of Florida on Monday, a state that President Bush won in 2000 and in 2004.
民主党候选人奥巴马星期一集中精力在南部的佛罗里达州竞选，这里是布什总统2000年和2004年大选时获胜的州。
Obama focused on the national economy, which opinion polls show is by far the number one issue in the campaign.
奥巴马主要探讨美国的经济，民意调查显示，民众对国内经济的关心的远远超过任何其他竞选议题。
"It is getting harder and harder to make [i.e., pay] the mortgage or fill up your gas tank or even keep the electricity on at the end of the month," he said. "At this rate, the question isn't just 'Are you better off than you were four years ago?', it's 'Are you better off than you were four weeks ago?'"
奥巴马说：“按期偿付买房的月供，给汽车加油，甚至在月底保持家庭用电不中断，这些都变得越来越难了。这种情况发展下去，我们要问的不是，‘现在的生活比四年前更好吗？’，而是‘现在的日子比四个星期前更好吗。’”
Monday was the first day that citizens in Florida could take advantage of early voting, something many states now permit before Election Day.
星期一是佛罗里达州的居民可以享受提前投票的第一天，这是很多州都目前都允许在选举日前提前投票。
Obama's former Democratic rival, Senator Hillary Clinton, campaigned for Obama in Florida Monday.
奥巴马的前民主党竞选对手希拉里·克林顿参议员星期一也在佛罗里达为奥巴马助选。
She urged Democrats not to take Obama's lead in national polls for granted.
她警告民主党人，不要以为奥巴马在全国民意调查中领先，就一定胜券在握。
"If people start believing, 'Well, this election is over, I don't need to go vote,' we might not actually be successful," she said. "So we've got to do everything we can to reach out to everyone you know in the next several days."
她说“如果大家都认为，‘这次选举大局已定，我不必去投票了’，那我们可能就不会成功。因此我们必须全力以赴，劝说所有你认识的人在这今后几天里参加投票。”
New national polls give Obama a lead over McCain of between five and 11 points.
新的全国民意调查显示，奥巴马领先麦凯恩5到11个百分点。
Political experts say Obama is likely to get a boost from the endorsement of former secretary of state and national security advisor, retired Army General Colin Powell.
政治分析人士说，奥巴马很可能因为前国务卿、国家安全顾问、退休将军鲍威尔的支持获得更多选票。
"He has both style and substance," Powell said Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press program. "He has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president."
鲍威尔星期天在全国广播公司的“面对媒体”节目上露面。鲍威尔说：“奥巴马既有风度又有内涵。他达到了作为成功总统的标准，能够成为一个特别出色的总统。”
Powell also said he was voting for Obama because of Senator McCain's decision to tap Governor Palin as his running mate. Powell said he did not think Palin was ready to be president in the event something happened to McCain.
鲍威尔还说，他支持奥巴马，是因为麦凯恩参议员决定选择佩林州长作竞选夥伴。鲍威尔说，他认为，如果麦凯恩发生什么意外的话，佩林不能承担起总统的职责。 |