Americans go to the polls Tuesday to vote for members of the U.S. Congress as well as the president. All 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives will be up for election, along with will more than one-third of the 100-member Senate. Democrats are hoping to pick up enough Senate seats so they can deprive the Republican minority of their ability to block legislation.
美国人星期二投票选举国会成员以及总统。国会众议院435议席全部重选，100个席位的参议院3分之1以上的议席也将重选。民主党希望增加足够的参议院议席，以便使少数党共和党无法利用议事规则阻碍立法。
Most of the attention on the congressional races is focused on the Senate, where Democrats, who now hold a narrow majority, hope to win an additional nine seats to give them an influential 60-vote majority.
人们对国会选举的关注目光大都集中在参议院的选举上。现在民主党人在参议院拥有微弱多数。民主党人希望把自己的席位再增加9个，这样他们就能获得具有影响力的60票多数。
That would be an important victory for Democrats, according to Alan Lichtman, political science professor at American University.
美利坚大学的政治科学教授利希特曼说，假如能够达到这一目标，民主党人算是获得了重大胜利。
"A 60-seat majority is of enormous significance because that is a filibuster-proof majority. Republicans could not block legislation by in effect talking it to death, delaying it," he said.
“60个议席的多数具有非常大的意义，因为有了这样的多数席位，少数党共和党人就不能用不停地发言的手法来阻止立法或拖延立法。”
Lichtman believes Democrats will increase their ranks, but fall a few seats short of the critical 60-vote majority. He argues that Democrats could win over enough moderate Republicans on individual issues to overcome any efforts to block their legislation.
利希特曼认为，民主党人将会增加参议院议席，但是会比至关重要的60个席位少几个。他说，民主党人在某些具体的问题上可以赢得足够的温和派共和党人的支持，足以克服共和党人的立法阻碍。
Democrats are also expected to expand their 36-seat majority in the House of Representatives.
民主党人预计也会进一步增加现有在众议院拥有的36席的多数。
Analysts predict Democrats could win between 20 and 35 additional seats.
分析家们预计，民主党人可能会再增加20个到35个之间的众议院议席。
Congressional Republicans acknowledge they face a tough election battle. Among incumbents facing close reelection bids in the Senate are Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, who was found guilty of corruption charges last month.
国会共和党人承认他们面临艰难的选举战。在参议院，少数党领袖麦康奈尔以及来自阿拉斯加州的史蒂文斯参议员是否能重新当选还难以判断。史蒂文斯上个月被判受贿罪罪名成立。
A number of Republican House members also are waging tough reelection campaigns, including Congressman Chris Shays of Connecticut - a political moderate who has often been at odds with President Bush, and Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, who made a controversial call for investigations of U.S. lawmakers whom she had suggested hold "anti-American views".
If Democrat Barack Obama becomes president, larger Democratic majorities in the House and Senate could be key to swiftly implementing his legislative agenda, including withdrawing U.S. combat troops from Iraq and implementing health care reform.
假如民主党人奥巴马成为总统，国会众议院参议院民主党席位增加，对他迅速实现他的立法目标至关重要。奥巴马的目标包括从伊拉克撤出美军，以及推行医疗保健改革。
"Democrats have been out of power for some time. They have not controlled the presidency and the Congress since the early 1990s under Bill Clinton. Democrats are going to be hungry for real accomplishment," added Professor Lichtman.
他说：“民主党人在野已经有一段时间了。他们自1990年代初克林顿担任总统以来就一直没有同时掌控总统职位和国会。民主党人十分希望有真正的成就。”
But Steven Hess of the Brookings Institution says a Democratic Congress will not necessarily be in lock step with a Democratic president.
但是，布鲁金斯学会的海斯认为，民主党人控制的国会不一定会跟民主党人总统步调完全一致。
"Neither party is monolithic. Both parties in a sense have regional interests that differ as well as conservative and liberal wings of the party," said Hess.
“民主党和共和党都不是铁板一块。两党从某种意义上说都有自己的地方利益，这些利益各不相同，而且，两党内部也有保守派和自由派。”
If Republican John McCain is elected president, Alan Lichtman says the veteran senator's record of bipartisanship could help in moving legislation through congress, although he says the partisan nature of his presidential campaign would make relations with Democrats more difficult.
利希特曼说，假如共和党人麦凯恩当选总统，这位老资格的参议员先前能够沟通两党意见的能力将有助于他推动国会通过立法，尽管总统选举竞选期间的强烈党派表现会给他跟民主党人的关系带来困难。
"He has run a very relentless-negative campaign, and a campaign decried by even some Republicans. He would have a lot of mending to do in order to bring around Democrats who are very bitter about the negative campaign that he has run," said Lichtman.
他说：“麦凯恩一直在进行攻击对手的竞选，以至于连一些共和党人也对他的攻击性竞选表示了意见。他要是当选总统，需要作出很多努力来修补跟民主党人的关系，因为民主党人对他的攻击性竞选言论很耿耿于怀。”
The presidential candidate who loses the election will return to Capitol Hill as a U.S. senator, but likely with a higher profile than before his White House campaign.
假如麦凯恩没有赢得总统选举，他将作为一个参议员返回国会山。不过，他由此可能会比他竞选总统之前更加引人注目。 |