In the U.S. presidential race Wednesday, Democrat Barack Obama focused on a new direction in foreign policy, while his Republican opponent, John McCain, looked to make a comeback in the polls.
在星期三的美国总统竞选活动中，民主党的奥巴马把精力集中在外交政策的新方向上，而他的共和党对手麦凯恩则在设法使民调反败为胜。
Senator Obama convened a meeting of his foreign policy and national security advisers in Virginia.
奥巴马参议员召集他的外交政策和国家安全顾问们在维吉尼亚开会。
Afterward, Obama told a news conference that he is up to the challenge of leading the United States at a time of economic crisis at home and foreign policy challenges abroad.
会后，奥巴马在记者会上说，他有能力领导美国应对国内经济危机和外交政策的挑战。
"We cannot afford four more years of policies that have failed to adjust to a new century," Obama said. "We are not going to defeat terrorist networks that operate in 80 countries through an occupation of Iraq. We are not going to deny the nuclear ambitions of Iran by refusing to pursue direct diplomacy alongside our allies."
他说：“我们不能再承受四年不适应新世纪需求的政策。我们不能通过占领伊拉克一个国家来击败在八十个国家开展行动的恐怖网络。我们不能与盟国一起拒绝通过直接外交手段来消除伊朗的核野心。”
Obama repeated his pledge to bring a responsible end to the war in Iraq and shift more U.S. troops into Afghanistan, where he said the situation in grave.
奥巴马重申要以负责的态度来结束伊拉克战争，并把更多美国军人调遣到阿富汗去，他说阿富汗的局势十分危急。
Obama was also asked about the recent comments of his vice presidential running mate, Senator Joe Biden of Delaware.
人们也问奥巴马有关他的竞选夥伴、德拉瓦州参议员拜登最近发表的评论。
Biden predicted that Obama would face what he called a "generated crisis" if he became president, a comment Republican John McCain seized on to question Obama's readiness to be commander in chief.
拜登预测，奥巴马如果当选总统，他会面临所谓“有意制造的危机”，而共和党候选人麦凯恩抓住这一说法来对奥巴马是否具备担任统帅的资格表示怀疑。
"Whoever is the next president is going to have to deal with a whole host of challenges internationally," Obama said. "And a period of transition in a new administration is always one in which we have to be vigilant, we have to be careful, we have to be mindful that as we pass the baton in this democracy that others do not take advantage of it."
奥巴马说：“不论谁担任下届总统都将必须处理众多的国际问题。而且在新政府刚成立时的过渡阶段，我们务必具有高度的警惕性，我们在这个民主体制中进行交接班的阶段也得小心谨慎，别让他人乘机钻空子。”
Obama also rejected complaints from Republicans that the Obama tax plan is a form of socialism. Obama said it was not a plausible argument because no one accused McCain of being a socialist in 2000 when McCain initially opposed President Bush's tax cuts for wealthy Americans.
McCain was busy trying to spark yet another political comeback in one of his favorite states - New Hampshire.
麦凯恩正在他所喜爱的州之一新罕普什尔州设法激励选民。
McCain's victory in this year's New Hampshire primary in January put him on course to win the Republican Party's presidential nomination. He also won the New Hampshire primary against then Texas Governor George Bush in 2000.
麦凯恩今年一月在新罕普什尔州初选中的胜利把他引上赢得共和党总统候选人提名的道路。2000年他也在新罕普什尔州的初选中击败了当时的德克萨斯州州长布什。
"It does not matter what the pundits think or how confident my opponent is," McCain said. "The people of New Hampshire make their own decisions. And more than once, they have ignored the polls and the pundits and brought me across the finish line first. I cannot think of any place I would rather be as Election Day draws close than running an underdog campaign in the state of New Hampshire!"
麦凯恩说：“不论那些权威怎么想，也不管我的对手有多自信，新罕普什尔州的人民自有主张。他们已不止一次无视民调结果和权威论断，让我成为冲过终点线的先锋。在选举日即将来临的时刻，我除了来到新罕普什尔之外，不可能会想到任何其它地方去开展处于劣势的竞选！”
But public opinion polls suggest that McCain will have to climb out of a deep hole. Several recent national surveys give Obama a double-digit lead over McCain, and McCain trails in several key swing states - states that are competitive for both campaigns - that could be decisive in the electoral vote count on November 4.
但是民调结果显示麦凯恩将难以反败为胜。最近几项全国调查显示奥巴马以双位数的百分点领先于麦凯恩，而且麦凯恩在几个关键的战场州也落后奥巴马，这些州是两位候选人激烈争夺的地盘，它们可能在十一月四号的大选中在选举团票数上起决定作用。
In New Hampshire, McCain continued to criticize Obama's tax plan as an obstacle to economic growth and he questioned Obama's readiness to be president.
麦凯恩在新罕普什尔继续批评奥巴马的税务政策是经济增长的障碍，并且对奥巴马担任总统的资格表示怀疑。
"We face many enemies in this dangerous world and many challenges here at home. The next president will not have time to get used to the office," McCain said. "He cannot invite testing from the world. He will have to act immediately."
他说：“在这个危险的世界上，我们面对许多敌人，在国内也面临许多考验。下届总统不会有时间来适应总统职位。他不能在全球事务中进行尝试。他必须当机立断。”
With less than two weeks to go in the campaign, political experts caution that there still could be some sort of "October Surprise" - an unanticipated outside event that could shake up the race to McCain's benefit.
But longtime political observer Tom DeFrank of the New York Daily News says the pivotal event in this year's campaign likely already happened.
"I think if Obama is the next president, we are all going to be writing that the 'October Surprise,' the Hurricane Katrina, if you will, was the economy because that is what, at least as of today, has crippled McCain's candidacy," DeFrank said.
The McCain campaign finds itself on the defensive trying to hold states like Missouri, Indiana and North Carolina that traditionally support Republican presidential candidates.
但是，民调显示麦凯恩的竞选处于守势，正在努力保住像密苏里、印第安纳和北卡罗来纳之类传统上支持共和党总统候选人的州。
Obama has made inroads in several swing states that could vote for either candidate, including Colorado and New Mexico, and he is focused on winning larger competitive states like Ohio and Florida that often determine the outcome of presidential elections.
奥巴马已在几个动摇不定的州取得进展，例如科罗拉多州和新墨西哥州。而且他目前正集中精力赢取竞争激烈的大州，诸如俄亥俄州和佛罗里达州，这些州往往决定总统选举的成败。 |