Former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich says he will continue his quest for the Republican Party's presidential nomination despite a mass walkout of key campaign staff. The staff departure is the latest political setback for Gingrich, who began the campaign as one of the best known Republican contenders for the White House next year.
美国前众议院议长纽特.金里奇说，尽管大批主要的竞选幕僚离职，他仍将继续争取共和党总统候选人提名。幕僚离职是金里奇所遭遇的最新的政治挫败。他之前开始了他的竞选活动，是共和党明年角逐白宫最知名的参选人之一。
More than a dozen Gingrich campaign aides quit as a group this week, including his campaign manager, chief spokesman and key staff aides in the important early presidential contest states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
金里奇十几个竞选幕僚这星期集体辞职，包括了他的竞选经理、幕僚发言人、和爱奥华、新罕布什尔、南卡罗来纳等州的关键幕僚。这些州对初期总统竞选十分重要。
Spokesman Rick Tyler cited differences over the direction of the campaign and questions about Gingrich's commitment to making a serious run at the nomination. The staff departures came shortly after Gingrich and his wife returned from a cruise vacation in Greece.
发言人泰勒解释说他们的竞选方向不同，并质疑金里奇全心角逐提名的承诺。就在金里奇和妻子从希腊邮轮度假回来没多久后，就发生了幕僚离职的事情。
Gingrich told reporters Friday there were differences over campaign strategy, but he vowed to pursue the Republican nomination in new and dynamic ways in the weeks ahead.
金里奇星期五对记者说，他们在竞选策略上确实有不同的意见，但他发誓在未来几星期要以全新和充满活力的方式争取共和党提名。
"We had a strategic disagreement about how to run a campaign like that because there have been very few campaigns that are solutions-oriented and that are oriented to every single American," Gingrich said.
他说，“我们对怎么竞选的策略存在歧见，因为以解决问题为取向的竞选、以每一个美国人为重的竞选一直太少了。”
Political experts say the mass staff defections are a serious blow to the Gingrich campaign, which has had numerous stumbles from the beginning.
政治专家说，大批幕僚离去对金里奇的竞选的杀伤力很大，他的竞选活动开始至今已经遭遇了几个挫败。
Darrell West is a political analyst with the Brookings Institution in Washington.
华盛顿布鲁金斯学会的政治分析家卫斯特说：
"To have the entire leadership of a campaign walk out of a door simultaneously this early in a campaign is really unprecedented, so it's really damaging to Mr. Gingrich," West noted.
“在竞选如此早期的时候就有一整个竞选领导阶层同时离去，这是前所未有的。所以这对金里奇而言真的具有破坏性。”
Gingrich began his presidential campaign as one of the better known Republican contenders because of his tenure as U.S. House speaker in the 1990s and his political battles with then President Bill Clinton.
金里奇之前开始总统竞选活动，他是共和党最知名的参选人之一，因为他在1990年代担任美国众议院议长，并和时任总统克林顿间发生过政治斗争。
But after he launched his campaign earlier this year, Gingrich quickly angered conservatives when he criticized a Republican congressional proposal to revamp the popular government health care program for the elderly known as Medicare.
不过，由于金里奇批评国会共和党人所提出修改政府联邦医疗保险项目的提案，使得他在今年早些时候发起竞选后就迅速惹火了保守派。联邦医疗保险是提供给老人的一项受欢迎的医疗项目。
Two of the Gingrich aides who quit previously worked for Texas Governor Rick Perry. Perry is a favorite with conservative activists within the Republican Party and after initially saying he wasn't interested in joining the presidential race, now says he is reconsidering.
The turmoil in the Gingrich campaign comes on the heels of new public opinion polls that suggest former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney remains the man to beat in the Republican presidential field.
在金里奇的竞选发生混乱前没多久，新的民调显示前麻萨诸塞州州长罗姆尼仍在共和党总统候选人提名战中保持领先。
Some conservatives worry that Romney is too much of a moderate and that has spurred several conservative contenders to get into the race. They include former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, Texas Congressman Ron Paul, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty and Georgia businessman Herman Cain, the only African-American candidate and a favorite of Tea Party activists.
一些保守派担心罗姆尼太温和，这刺激了几名保守派参选人加入战局。他们包括了前宾夕法尼亚州参议员桑托拉姆、德克萨斯州众议员朗保罗、前明尼苏达州长保伦提、乔治亚州企业家凯恩。凯恩是唯一的非洲裔美国人 候选人，也是茶党活动人士最支持的候选人。
Washington based political analyst Stuart Rothenberg is a guest on VOA's Encounter program.
华盛顿的政治分析家罗森伯格在接受美国之音采访时说：
"And so all these candidates are going to have to try to figure out who becomes the alternative to Mitt Romney because he is so well known and has won a race before and has resources and organization, and I think we are going to have a wide open race here," Rothenberg said.
“所以这些候选人都必须想出谁能取代罗姆尼，因为罗姆尼太有名了，之前还赢过一次，他有资源、有组织。我想我们会有个完全无法预测的竞赛。”
The Republican presidential contenders hold their first major debate Monday in the northeastern state of New Hampshire, which will hold the first presidential primary early next year.
共和党总统竞选者星期一将在东北部的新罕布什尔州举行第一场重大辩论。第一场总统候选人初选明年早些时候将在这里进行。 |