The two major party candidates for president of the United States, Republican Senator John McCain and Democrat Senator Barack Obama met in a spirited debate over the financial crisis and foreign policy Friday at the University of Mississippi. The two candidates clashed frequently over such issues as tax cuts, Iran's nuclear ambitions and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
美国两大政党的总统候选人、共和党的麦凯恩和民主党的奥巴马星期五在密西西比大学举行激烈的辩论，讨论美国金融危机和外交政策问题。两位候选人在减税、伊朗的核野心以及阿富汗和伊拉克战争等问题上频繁交锋。
Although this was to have been a debate focused exclusively on foreign policy issues, the grave financial crisis that almost undermined the debate was the top issue addressed during the first half of the debate. Both Senators came to Mississippi from Washington, where they had been involved in the effort to put together an emergency package to stem the crisis.
虽然原计划这次辩论专门讨论外交政策问题，但是美国严峻的金融危机却是第一场总统候选人辩论的头半场的首要议题。金融危机险些让第一场辩论不能如期举行。两位候选人参议员都是从华盛顿来到密西西比的。他们在首都参与了为制定因应金融危机的应急计划所作的努力。
On Wednesday, Senator McCain suspended his campaign and called for a postponement of the debate in order to concentrate on the financial crisis. Senator Obama said he would come to the debate alone, if necessary, and for two days the fate of this first presidential debate of the 2008 election was uncertain. On Friday, however, just hours before the event was to take place, Senator McCain said enough progress had been made in Washington for him to come to the debate.
星期三，麦凯恩中断了自己的竞选，他呼吁推迟候选人辩论，集中对付金融危机。奥巴马则表示，如果必要，他会一个人参加辩论。有两天时间，大家不知道2008年总统选举的第一场辩论能否举行。但是，星期五，在辩论原计划举行的时间前几个小时，麦凯恩说，在华盛顿已经取得了足够的进展，因此他能够到密西西比参加辩论。
In their responses to questions about the crisis, the two senators gave support to the general idea of a government bail out plan, but differed over what needed to be done to restore the nation's economic health. Senator McCain said government needs to restore fiscal responsibility.
两位参议员在回答有关金融危机的问题的时候，都表示支持政府拯救金融机构的总体设想。但是两人在应该采取哪些具体措施来恢复国家经济健康的问题上意见分歧。麦凯恩说，政府需要重新负担起财政责任。
"We have to, obviously, cut spending. I have fought to cut spending. Senator Obama has 800 billion dollars in new spending programs. I would suggest that he start by canceling some of those new spending programs that he has," he said.
他说：“很明显，我们必须削减开支。我曾为削减开支而奋斗。奥巴马参议员曾用8千亿美元来推动新的政府开支项目。我建议他先取消一些他的新项目。”
Senator Obama fired back, accusing Senator McCain and Republicans of approving tax cuts for the wealthy while neglecting the needs of average working Americans.
奥巴马还以颜色，他指责麦凯恩和共和党人一方面批准给富人减税，同时却忽视普通美国工薪阶层的需要。
"If we are spending $300 billion on tax cuts for people who do not need them and we're not even asking for them and we are leaving out health care, which is crushing on people all across the country then, I think, we have made a bad decision and I want to make sure we are not short-changing our long-term priorities," he said.
他说：“如果我们用3千亿美元来给那些不需要减税的人减税，而且根本不问这些人需不需要减税，我们正在忽视医疗保健，这使全国各地的人们受害。我认为，我们作出了很糟的决定，我要确保不再改变我们的长远的头等大事。”
When the debate moved to foreign policy, the exchange became more heated, with Senator McCain frequently suggesting that Senator Obama did not fully understand such issues as the threat of a nuclear Iran or how to deal with Russia. Senator Obama fought back with criticisms of the Bush administration's policies, which he said Senator McCain has largely supported. Senator McCain hailed the success of the military surge in Iraq and Senator Obama attacked the decision to invade Iraq in the first place.
接下来辩论议题转到外交政策。两人的交锋变得更加激烈。麦凯恩频繁暗示奥巴马不完全理解伊朗核武化的威胁等问题，也不理解应该怎样对付俄罗斯。奥巴马则反唇相讥，批评布什政府的政策，并且说，麦凯恩基本上支持布什的政策。麦凯恩则称赞美国军队在伊拉克的军事成功。
One of the fiercest exchanges between the two candidates came over the issue of Iran and what to do about its plan to develop nuclear weapons. Senator McCain emphasized the threat this would pose to Israel and attacked Senator Obama for saying he would hold direct meetings with Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
奥巴马还抨击布什从一开始根本就不应该打伊拉克战争。两位候选人辩论中一次最激烈的交锋有关伊朗问题。谈到伊朗发展核武器的计划时，麦凯恩强调，这将对以色列构成威胁，他抨击奥巴马，说奥巴马曾表示愿意跟伊朗领导人艾哈麦迪内贾德举行直接会晤。
"What Senator Obama does not seem to understand is that if, without precondition, you sit down across the table from someone who has called Israel a stinking corpse and wants to destroy that country and wipe it off the map, you legitimize those comments. This is dangerous. It is not just naive, it is dangerous," he said.
他说：“奥巴马似乎不理解，如果不预设条件，就跟伊朗人谈判，那你就把伊朗人的声明合法化了。伊朗人说，以色列是一具发臭的僵尸，他们要摧毁以色列，把以色列从地图上消灭掉。奥巴马这样作很危险，这样作不仅天真，而且危险。”
Senator Obama responded by defending his willingness to meet with any foreign leader at any time if he believed it would make the United States more secure.
奥巴马的反应是，为他愿意在任何时候跟所有外国领导人会晤进行辩解，只要这些会晤能让美国更安全。
"Now, understand what this means, meeting without preconditions. It does not mean that you invite them over for tea one day. What it means is that we do not do what we have been doing, which is to say that 'until you agree to do exactly what we say, we will not have direct contacts with you," he said.
他说：“请理解我的意思。我说的无条件会晤，意思是请他们来喝茶。我的意思是，我们不再沿用过去的作法，不再说，‘除非你完全同意我们的立场，否则我们就不会同你进行直接接触。”
Senator Obama said one of McCain's own advisors, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, had endorsed the idea of meeting with Iran's leaders without preconditions. Senator McCain said that was not true. In a recent meeting with other former secretaries of state, Kissinger did say U.S. officials should meet with the Iranians without preconditions, but he did not say the two presidents should meet.
奥巴马说，麦凯恩自己的一个顾问，前国务卿基辛格就支持无条件会晤伊朗领导人。麦凯恩说，这不是事实。他说，基辛格最近会晤其他前任美国国务卿的时候确实表示，美国官员应该无条件会晤伊朗人。但是基辛格没有说两国总统应该会晤。
The next scheduled debate will be between the two vice presidential candidates, Republican Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska and Democratic Senator Joe Biden of Delaware. That event is scheduled for October 2 at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.
按计划，下次辩论将在两位副总统候选人之间举行。他们是共和党的佩林州长和民主党的拜登参议员。下次辩论将在10月2号在密苏里州圣路易市的华盛顿大学举行。 |