Democrat Barack Obama is trying to hold his lead in the U.S. presidential race in the final days, while Republican John McCain is looking for anything that might give him a last-minute bump in the polls. Presidential campaign that has only five days remaining.
离美国总统大选投票仅有5天了， 民主党候选人奥巴马试图在竞选的最后几天保持他的领先优势。与此同时，共和党参议员麦凯恩正在寻找任何能够让他在最后一分钟的民调中反弹的机会。
As the 2008 presidential campaign begins to draw to a close, most of the battles are being fought in states that have generally voted Republican in recent years, and that is an advantage for Senator Barack Obama.
随著2008年总统竞选活动即将落下帷幕，大多数的选战集中在近年来作为共和党票仓的几个州。这对于参议员奥巴马来说正是求之不得。
Obama campaigned Thursday in Florida, where polls show he is in a close race with Senator McCain.
奥巴马周四在佛罗里达州竞选，那里的民调显示，他和参议员麦凯恩不分伯仲。
Republicans generally count on Florida as a must-win state in the state-by-state battle to accumulate the 270 electoral votes necessary to claim the White House.
共和党人普遍指望，要想在逐州的征战中积累270张选举人票问鼎白宫，佛罗里达州是一个势在必得的州。
Obama told a rally that President Bush has driven the U.S. economy into a ditch, and that Republican John McCain would keep it there if he won.
奥巴马对一个集会说，布什总统让美国经济陷入低谷，而且共和党参议员麦凯恩如果当选，美国经济将继续陷在里面。
Obama also accused McCain of offering little more than attacks in the final days of the campaign.
奥巴马还指责麦凯恩在最后几天的选战活动中除了加强攻击之外玩不出别的花样。
If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as somebody people should be afraid of," Obama said. "You make big elections about small things. Well, Florida, we are here to say, not this time. Not this year. Not with so much at stake. John McCain might be worried about losing an election, but I'm worried about you losing your job and losing your house!"
奥巴马说：“如果你没有什么功绩来竞选，那么你只好把你的对手刻划成一个人们应该感到恐惧的人。你让一些枝微末节的小事来冲淡了这场重大的选举。那么，佛罗里达，我们在这里说，这次不能如此。今年不能再如此。我们有太多的利害攸关。约翰·麦凯恩可能担心的是他会失去选举，但我担心你失去你的工作，失去你的房子！”
Obama was back on the campaign trail one day after campaigning with former President Bill Clinton, and after spending millions of dollars to air a 30-minute prime time ad on several national TV networks.
在奥巴马恢复巡回竞选的前一天，他和美国前总统比尔·克林顿一起参加竞选集会，并花费数百万美元在数个全国性电视网络购买了30分钟的黄金时间作竞选广告。
Republican John McCain meanwhile is running short of time, money and possibly support in the final days of the campaign.
共和党参议员麦凯恩在竞选方面时间已经不够，金钱也短缺，在最后几天内可能也缺乏支持。
McCain looked for a pre-election revival at a rally Thursday in the appropriately named town of Defiance, Ohio. No Republican has ever won the presidency without winning Ohio, going back to Abraham Lincoln in 1860.
麦凯恩上个星期四在俄亥俄州迪法因市举行竞选集会试图重振旗鼓。这个城镇的名字翻成中文就是“抗争”，这和麦凯恩竞选活动的现状非常贴切。没有任何一位共和党总统可以在不赢俄亥俄州的情况下当选总统，这可以追溯到1860年林肯进行竞选的情况。
Like Obama, McCain kept his focus on the economy and continued his attack on Obama's tax plan, which he said would amount to a redistribution of wealth from rich to poor.
和奥巴马一样，麦凯恩也把竞选的重点放在经济上，他并且继续攻击奥巴马的税收计划，他说，奥巴马的经济计划等于是劫富济贫。
"Senator Obama is running to be 'redistributionist in chief'," McCain said. "I'm running to be commander in chief! Senator Obama is running to spread the wealth. I'm running to create more wealth!"
麦凯恩说：“参议员奥巴马竞选是要当重新分配财富的司令。我竞选是要当美国军队总司令！奥巴马参议员竞选是为了散发财富。我竞选是为了创造更多的财富！”
McCain also attacked Obama on foreign policy, saying the Illinois senator lacks what it takes to protect the country from terrorists.
麦凯恩还攻击奥巴马的外交政策。他说，这位伊利诺伊州的参议员不知道需要采取哪些措施来保护美国免受恐怖分子的攻击。
McCain continues to trail Obama by an average of about six points in national polls. Obama also leads McCain or is tied with him in several key states that will provide the margin of victory on Tuesday.
麦凯恩在全国民调中继续落后奥巴马平均约6个百分点。奥巴马也在下星期二投票选举中能够产生胜差的几个关键州和麦凯恩并驾齐驱。
However, Obama's lead in some states like Virginia and Indiana may be narrowing.
然而，奥巴马的领先优势在维吉尼亚和印地安那等州可能正在缩小。
American University presidential historian Allan Lichtman says McCain could help himself with undecided voters by returning to the more moderate tone of his first presidential campaign eight years ago.
"I think he can make some headway," Lichtman said. "I don't think he can turn around the election. But my advice to Senator McCain is fire the consultants, fire the handlers, fire the speechwriters. Get rid of them all and spend the rest of the campaign being the McCain you were in 2000."
Meanwhile, McCain's vice presidential running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, is hinting that she intends to remain active in national politics win or lose on Election Day.
Palin was asked on ABC's Good Morning America if she was bothered by the sharp criticism she has received from the Democrats.
"I think that if I were to give up and wave a white flag of surrender against some of the political shots that we have taken, I'm not doing this for naught! No, we are going to progress," Palin said. "We are going to keep going forward. So, it is all worth it and I'm not complaining about any of it."
Palin has energized social conservatives but alienated some moderates who question her readiness to be president should something happen to John McCain, who is 72, and would be the oldest person ever elected to a first term as president. |