经济学人55:共和党提名,七推特之舞

 　　The Republican nomination¹

　　共和党提名

　　The dance of the seven tweets

　　七推特之舞

　　The former speaker starts a presidential campaign

　　前众院议长开始总统竞选

　　May 12th 2011 | WASHINGTON, DC | from the print edition

　　NEWT GINGRICH entered the race for president much as he has conducted himself throughout his political career: chaotically². In March his aides let slip that he would make a big announcement during a stop at the state capitol in Atlanta, Georgia, only to retract³ the whole plan for reasons that still remain opaque⁴. Then on May 9th his staff used Twitter to declare that two days later he would issue a tweet, along with an update to his Facebook page, that would mark his entry into the race. All this tweeting about possible future tweets kept commentators⁵ puzzling (which may have been part of the point) but finally, on May 11th, the immortal⁶ words “Today I am announcing my candidacy for President of the United States” appeared on Mr Gingrich’s feed, in between a plug for an upcoming television appearance and an enthusiastic mention of a book about the Berlin wall.

　　纽特金瑞奇此次进入总统竞选,一如他自己在其整个政治生涯所演绎过的：很混乱。三月份他的助手们无意中透露过，他将会在佐治亚州亚特兰大州议会厅逗留期间做一重大宣布：由于各种仍保密的原因要取消整个竞选计划。然而5月9日他的工作人员通过微博宣布，两天后他将发布一条推特，同时更新他的脸书，以此标志他加入总统竞选。这个关于未来可能的推特的推特完全令时政评论员们感到迷惑（哪个会是重点所在即正式的宣告呢）但最终，5月11日，“今日我将宣布竞选美国总统”这个不朽词句，出现在金瑞奇先生所供的新闻播料中，就在为一个即将播出的电视演出所作的插播和一本关于柏林墙的书的热推之间。

　　Mr Gingrich’s affinity⁷ for social media notwithstanding, most Americans think of him as a figure from the past. He was first elected to Congress in 1978. In 1994 he was the inspiration behind the Contract with America, a manifesto⁸ that helped the Republicans to win a majority in the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years. As a result, he became speaker, and proceeded to duel⁹ with Bill Clinton, the president of the day, over both budgets and Mr Clinton’s personal life.

　　金瑞奇先生与社交媒体关系密切，尽管如此，多数美国人记起的还是他以往的形象。1978年他第一个当选为国会议员。1994年他提出的“与美国签约”的竞选纲领帮助共和党40年来首次羸得众议院多数席位。结果，他成了众院议长，并在比尔克林顿就任总统期间，在预算和克林顿私生活上，继续与其抗衡。

　　All this means Mr Gingrich is not only known to Republican primary voters, but is something of a hero to many of them. But he is a flawed one, in several respects. For one thing, he is generally considered to have come off worse in his battles with Mr Clinton, who romped¹⁰ to re-election after the government shutdown of 1995-96. Mr Clinton also survived the Republicans’ subsequent attempt to impeach¹¹ him, while the Republicans lost seats in the House at the next election. Mr Gingrich took the blame for the party’s poor showing, and resigned. He has not held public office of any sort since 1998.

　　所有这一切表明金瑞奇先生不仅是众所周知的共和党初选选民，也是他们许多人眼里的英雄人物。但在某些方面他是有缺点的。其一，他被普遍认为在与克林顿先生的对决中表现很糟，后者在1995－96年政府关闭之后轻而易举地再次竞选获胜。克林顿还侥幸渡过了共和党随后对他的弹劾企图，与此同时共和党在接下来的众议院选举中丢失了席位。金瑞奇先生谴责了共和党的糟糕表现并辞职。他自1998年以来没有再担任任何公职。

　　Worse, from the prospective¹² of many Republicans, Mr Gingrich turned out to have just as louche a personal life as Mr Clinton. He has been married three times, having had affairs with his second and third wives while still married to their predecessors¹³. And then there is that mercurial¹⁴ temperament¹⁵. Since he began publicly contemplating¹⁶ a presidential run last year, he has likened those wanting to build a mosque¹⁷ near Ground Zero to Nazis¹⁸, blamed his affairs on his patriotism¹⁹ (which led him to work so hard, he explained, that he lost his moral compass), snapped at an audience member at a public event who asked him about his private life, flip-flopped on the wisdom of America’s involvement in Libya and then refused to admit that he had done so, despite being caught on camera.

　　更糟糕的是，从许多共和党人的竞选展望中看到，金瑞奇先生竟然有如克林顿先生一样的声名狼藉的私生活。他结过三次婚，在第二三任妻子还嫁给前夫时与她们有外遇。此外还有他善变的性情。自从他去年公开关注总统竞选以来，他把那些以他的风流韵事谴责他的爱国心（他解释说是他的爱国情怀让他如此辛苦工作而失去了他的道德方向感）的人比作是想在纳粹归零地建清真寺，还在共场合厉声喝斥一个问他关于他的私生活的观众，对美国介入利比亚的明智之举含糊其辞却拒绝承认他这么做过，尽管被镜头捕捉到。

　　All this helps to explain why Mr Gingrich is polling rather limply, despite his high name-recognition. Nonetheless, he is not without strengths. He should hold some appeal for Republicans of all stripes, from fiscal²⁰ hawks²¹ to evangelicals (since converting to Catholicism in 2009, he has been complaining that America has become too secular). He is a prolific²² fund-raiser, and has created a network of activists²³ over the years that will enthusiastically promote his cause. He fizzes with energy and ideas, and seems more of an intellectual heavyweight than most of the current field (though that is not hard). Whether Mr Gingrich turns that into an asset, by appearing grave, informed and presidential, or a liability, by thinking aloud and going off on tangents, is still an open question—though we rather suspect the latter.

　　这一切有助于解释为什么金瑞奇先生获得的民意支持较弱，尽管他有着较高的声望。不过，他也并不是没有优势。他应该对从财政强硬派到福音派（自2009年转至天主教以来，他一直在抱怨美国已变得太世俗）的形形色色的共和党人做出一些呼吁。他是一个多产的募捐人，多年来已建立起一个积极分子网络，这些积极分子将热心地推动他的事业。他精力充沛思想丰富，相比当前多数领域有影响力的人物他更像一个智慧型的重量级人物（虽然这并不难做到）。金瑞奇先生是通过严肃灵通和总统的表现成为一项资产，还是通过自话自说的发声思维和交点波动的游离思维成为一项负债，仍是一个未解决的问题——虽然我们较倾向于后者。

1 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

2 chaotically   

参考例句：

• His thoughts churned chaotically in his brain like snowflakes whirling about in the north wind. 头脑里，情思弥漫纷乱像个北风飘雪片的天空。 来自汉英文学 - 围城
• In metal the atoms are arranged not chaotically but in even rows, forming a crystal lattice. 在金属里，原子并不是杂乱无章地排列而是排成平整的行列，构成一个晶格。 来自辞典例句

3 retract   

vt.缩回，撤回收回，取消

参考例句：

• The criminals should stop on the precipice, retract from the wrong path and not go any further.犯罪分子应当迷途知返，悬崖勒马，不要在错误的道路上继续走下去。
• I don't want to speak rashly now and later have to retract my statements.我不想现在说些轻率的话，然后又要收回自己说过的话。

4 opaque   

adj.不透光的；不反光的，不传导的；晦涩的

参考例句：

• The windows are of opaque glass.这些窗户装着不透明玻璃。
• Their intentions remained opaque.他们的意图仍然令人费解。

5 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

7 affinity   

n.亲和力，密切关系

参考例句：

• I felt a great affinity with the people of the Highlands.我被苏格兰高地人民深深地吸引。
• It's important that you share an affinity with your husband.和丈夫有共同的爱好是十分重要的。

8 manifesto   

n.宣言，声明

参考例句：

• I was involved in the preparation of Labour's manifesto.我参与了工党宣言的起草工作。
• His manifesto promised measures to protect them.他在宣言里保证要为他们采取保护措施。

9 duel   

n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争

参考例句：

• The two teams are locked in a duel for first place.两个队为争夺第一名打得难解难分。
• Duroy was forced to challenge his disparager to duel.杜洛瓦不得不向诋毁他的人提出决斗。

10 romped   

v.嬉笑玩闹( romp的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指在赛跑或竞选等中）轻易获胜

参考例句：

• Children romped on the playground. 孩子们在操场上嬉笑玩闹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• John romped home well ahead of all the other runners. 约翰赛马跑时轻而易举地战胜了所有的选手。 来自辞典例句

11 impeach   

v.弹劾；检举

参考例句：

• We must impeach the judge for taking bribes.我们一定要检举法官收受贿赂。
• The committee decided to impeach the President.委员会决定弹劾总统。

12 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。

13 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 mercurial   

adj.善变的，活泼的

参考例句：

• He was of a mercurial temperament and therefore unpredictable.他是个反复无常的人，因此对他的行为无法预言。
• Our desires and aversions are mercurial rulers.我们的欲望与嫌恶是变化无常的统治者。

15 temperament   

n.气质，性格，性情

参考例句：

• The analysis of what kind of temperament you possess is vital.分析一下你有什么样的气质是十分重要的。
• Success often depends on temperament.成功常常取决于一个人的性格。

16 contemplating   

深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想

参考例句：

• You're too young to be contemplating retirement. 你考虑退休还太年轻。
• She stood contemplating the painting. 她站在那儿凝视那幅图画。

17 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

18 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 patriotism   

n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• They obtained money under the false pretenses of patriotism.他们以虚伪的爱国主义为借口获得金钱。

20 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

21 hawks   

鹰( hawk的名词复数 )； 鹰派人物，主战派人物

参考例句：

• Two hawks were hover ing overhead. 两只鹰在头顶盘旋。
• Both hawks and doves have expanded their conditions for ending the war. 鹰派和鸽派都充分阐明了各自的停战条件。

22 prolific   

adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的

参考例句：

• She is a prolific writer of novels and short stories.她是一位多产的作家，写了很多小说和短篇故事。
• The last few pages of the document are prolific of mistakes.这个文件的最后几页错误很多。

23 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》