The focus of the U.S. presidential race turned to America's large and growing Hispanic population Tuesday, with both major party candidates addressing a national gathering of Hispanic leaders.
美国大选竞选活动的重点星期二转向美国不断增长的拉美裔人口。两个主要政党候选人分别在一次拉美裔领袖的全国性集会上发表讲话。
Hispanics are America's largest minority group, accounting for about 15 percent of the U.S. population. Although many Hispanics do not vote, either because they lack citizenship or are not of legal voting age, they represent a critical voting bloc in many states that could decide the November election.
拉美裔是美国最大的少数族裔，占美国人口的大约百分之15。尽管许多拉美裔人口由于不是公民或不到法定选举年龄而不参加投票，但他们在许多州都代表著一个重要的选民群，能够左右11月的选举结果。
The presumed Republican presidential nominee, Senator John McCain, addressed the League of United Latin American Citizens in Washington Tuesday. He said all Americans, including Hispanics, will benefit from his economic plan to keep taxes low.
预计将得到共和党总统候选人提名的麦凯恩参议员星期二在华盛顿的拉美裔美国公民联合会发表讲话。他说，包括拉美裔在内的所有美国人都将受益于他的保持低税率的经济计划。
"There are two million Latino-owned businesses in America. The first consideration we should have when debating tax policy is how we can help those companies grow and increase the prosperity of the millions of American families whose economic security depends on their success. It is a terrible mistake to raise taxes during an economic downturn," he said.
麦凯恩说：“美国有200万个拉美裔公司企业。我们在辩论税收政策时首先要考虑的应当是如何帮助这些公司发展，增加千百万美国家庭的财富，他们的经济安全取决于这些公司的成功。在经济下滑的时候提高税率是一个严重错误。”
Later in the day, McCain's Democratic rival, Senator Barack Obama, told the group this year's election is about giving all Americans a fair chance at the American dream.
当天晚些时候，麦凯恩的民主党对手奥巴马参议员对拉美裔美国公民联合会讲话时说，今年的选举关系到给所有美国人一个实现美国梦的公平机会。
"We have to make sure that we have a government that knows that a problem facing any American is a problem facing all Americans," he said.
奥巴马说：“我们必须保证我们有一个政府，这个政府认识到，任何美国人面临的问题都是所有美国人面临的问题。”
Obama has said he wants to reduce taxes for middle-income earners. But he has pledged to repeal many of the tax cuts enacted by President Bush. Obama says those cuts favor the wealthy.
奥巴马表示，他希望为中等收入的家庭减税，但是他誓言要取消布什总统实施的许多减税措施。奥巴马认为，那些措施有利于富人。
Historically, as a group, Hispanics have tended to vote Democratic, sometimes by as much as a two-to-one ratio. But President Bush made significant inroads among Hispanics in his successful presidential bids. He won more than 40-percent of the Hispanic vote in 2004.
历史上，拉美裔作为一个群体通常会投票支持民主党候选人。有时候支持民主党和共和党候选人的比例高达2比1。但是布什总统在竞选连任的过程中，成功地争取了许多拉美裔选民。2004年，他赢得百分之40多拉美裔选票。
Today polls show a significant drop in Hispanic backing for the Republican Party. Many analysts blame this on the hard-line stance of many prominent Republicans on fighting illegal immigration.
现在，民调显示，支持共和党的拉美裔选民大大减少。许多分析人士把这种现象归咎于很多共和党头面人物对非法移民的强硬立场。
But Senator McCain is a longtime backer of comprehensive immigration reform that would provide a legal path to citizenship for many of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants residing in the United States. Obama has taken a similar position.
但是麦凯恩参议员长期以来一直支持全面改革移民政策，为居住在美国的大约1200万非法移民中的许多人成为美国公民提供合法途径。奥巴马在这个问题上的立场与麦凯恩相似。
In his speech, McCain noted that Congress has yet to pass such reform, but said the cause is not lost. He said immigrants have greatly contributed to America's prosperity and national character, and will continue to do so.
麦凯恩在讲话中指出，国会还没有通过有关的改革法案，但是他说，事情并没有就此完结。他指出，移民为美国的繁荣和国家的特性做出了巨大的贡献，而且将继续做出贡献。
"I know this country, which I love more than almost anything, would be the poorer were we deprived of patriotism, industry, and decency of those millions of Americans whose families came here from other countries in our hemisphere. I will honor their contributions to America for as long as I live," he said.
Obama accused McCain of backing away from comprehensive immigration reform during the primary election season.
奥巴马批评麦凯恩初选期间在全面改革移民政策的问题上立场有所后退。
"But when he started running for his party's nomination, he abandoned his courageous stands, and said that he would not even support his own legislation if it came up for a vote. Well, for eight long years we have had a president who has made all kinds of promises to Latinos on the campaign trail, but failed to live up to them in the White House, and we cannot afford that anymore," he said.
In the Democratic presidential primary contests, Hispanics voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama's rival, Senator Hillary Clinton. But a recent poll shows Hispanics favor Obama over McCain 59 to 29 percent.
在民主党初选期间，大多数拉美裔都支持奥巴马的竞争对手希拉里.克林顿。但是最近一次民调显示，拉美裔选民中百分之59支持奥巴马，百分之29支持麦凯恩。 |