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Democratic presidential contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were both on the defensive¹ Wednesday night during a debate broadcast by ABC News (from the Constitution Center) in Philadelphia, their last exchange before next Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary.

竞争民主党总统候选人提名的奥巴马和克林顿星期三晚上在费城举行电视辩论，两人都为自己进行了辩护。这次由美国广播公司电视播出的辩论是两人在下星期二宾夕法尼亚州初选前的最后一次交锋。

The tone of both Democrats² was generally polite, but there were plenty of jabs thrown during the course of the debate about recent statements that have caused both contenders problems.

这两位民主党人在辩论中语气基本上平和有礼。但是，针对最近给两人造成麻烦的一些问题，两人也不时有言辞锋利的交峰。

Senator Obama said Senator Clinton had beat to death comments he made about the bitterness of small town voters in Pennsylvania who cling to guns and religion out of economic frustration³.

克林顿参议员在辩论中极力攻击奥巴马有关宾州小城镇选民不满情绪的言论。奥巴马曾说，那些人由于经济问题上的不满而执著于枪支和宗教。

"During the course of the last few days, she has said I am an elitist, out of touch, condescending⁴," said Senator Obama. "Let me be absolutely clear, it would be pretty hard for me to be condescending towards people of faith because I am a person of faith, and have done more than most other campaigns in reach out specifically to people of faith."

他说：“最近几天，她曾说我高高在上、脱离实际和基层民众。我在这里要明确地表示，由于我本人的宗教信仰，我不可能傲慢地对待其它有宗教信仰的人，而且与大多数竞争对手相比，我在竞选中为争取笃信宗教的选民的支持作出了更大的努力。”

But Senator Clinton had her turn on the defensive as well. One voter on a video clip during the debate asked Clinton about her now famous 1996 visit to Bosnia as first lady and why she said her party came under sniper fire and ran for cover when news footage showed a much calmer reception.

在另一方面，克林顿参议员也为自己作出了辩护。克林顿曾表示，她1996年作为第一夫人访问波黑的时候，自己及同行人员曾一度处于狙击手的枪口之下。但是从有关新闻片上看来，她们一行当时的处境没那么可怕。

"On a couple of occasions in the last couple of weeks, I just said some things that were not in keeping with what I knew to be the case and what I had written about in my book, and you know, I am embarrassed by it, I have apologized for it, I have said it was a mistake," said Senator Clinton. "And it is something, I hope, you can look over.

一名选民问她为什么要这样说。克林顿回答说：“这几星期来，我的确有几次说了一些跟我所经历的情况不符、而且也和我在我自己的书里所描述的情节不符的话，你们知道这让我感到很难堪。我已经为此而道歉。我说了这是一个错误。我希望你们谅解。”

Both candidates said they thought the other could defeat the presumed Republican nominee⁵, Senator John McCain, in the general election in November. But both Democrats also declined to pledge that they would ask the loser of the nomination⁶ fight to be his or her vice-presidential running mate.

两位候选人都说，对方能够在11月大选中击败可望成为共和党提名候选人的麦凯恩参议员。但是他俩都拒绝承诺请对方当自己的副总统竞选夥伴。

Clinton insisted she would be the stronger Democratic nominee against McCain because she has fought off Republican attacks in the past.

克林顿参议员坚持说，她如果作为民主党提名人就会对麦凯恩构成更大的挑战，因为她过去曾经击退共和党的攻击。

"You know, I wish the Republicans would apologize for the disaster of the Bush-Cheney years and not run anybody, just say it is time for the Democrats to go back into the White House," she said. "Unfortunately, they do not seem to be willing to do that, so we know that they are going to be out there full force."

Obama countered that his record of unifying⁷ voters would make him the better Democratic nominee.

奥巴马反驳说，自己在团结选民方面已取得的成绩使他成为更理想的民主党候选人。

"There is no doubt that the Republicans will attack either of us," he said. "What I have been able to display during the course of this primary is that I can take a punch. I have taken some pretty good ones from Senator Clinton."

Both Democrats stood by their plans to begin troop withdrawals⁸ from Iraq shortly after taking office. And both contenders also had tough words for Iran, saying they would do all they could to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

两人都坚持自己在就任后要立即开始撤出伊拉克美军，而且也都出言抨击伊朗，说他们将竭尽全力地阻止伊朗拥有核武器。

Clinton also said she would launch massive retaliation⁹ against Iran if it used nuclear weapons to attack Israel. Obama said the U.S. would take what he called appropriate action in the same circumstance.

克林顿参议员还说，如果伊朗使用核武器攻击以色列，她会对伊朗发动大规模的报复。而奥巴马说，在这种情况下，他会采取他所说的适当行动。

Clinton continues to hold a lead in public opinion polls in Pennsylvania in advance of Tuesday's primary, but her lead has dwindled¹⁰ in recent weeks.

Obama continues to lead in the overall delegate count for the Democratic nomination with ten more contests to go before the primary season ends in early June. The Democrats hold their national nominating convention in late August, followed by the Republicans a week later.