VOA双语新闻：8、共和党初选持续举行 罗姆尼伊州获胜（在线收听）

共和党初选持续举行 罗姆尼伊州获胜

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney took another step toward clinching the Republican Party's presidential nomination Tuesday with a convincing win in the Illinois primary. Romney defeated his main rival, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, by a 12 point margin and padded his lead in the all-important delegate count in his quest to be the Republican nominee.

前麻萨诸塞州州长罗姆尼星期二在伊利诺伊州的共和党初选中明显取胜，使他在争取共和党总统侯选人提名之争中，又向前迈进一步。罗姆尼在这场选战中，以12个百分点的优势，击败了他的主要对手、前宾夕法尼亚州联邦参议员桑托勒姆。

Mitt Romney continues to win the key primary battles with Rick Santorum as he moves ever closer to becoming the presumptive Republican candidate against President Barack Obama in the November election.

罗姆尼在与对手桑托勒姆的竞争中，一再赢取主要州的共和党初选，已经越来越接近共和党总统侯选人提名的胜利。共和党总统侯选人将于今年11月的大选中，和美国现任总统奥巴马决一雌雄。

Romney got another boost in the wake of his victory in Illinois when he won the endorsement of former Florida governor Jeb Bush. Bush issued a written statement that said it was time Republicans unite behind Romney as their nominee.

在他获得伊利诺伊州初选胜利的同时，罗姆尼还有另一项收获，前佛罗里达州州长杰布·布什宣布支持他。杰布·布什发表书面声明说，现在是共和党人团结支持总统候选人罗姆尼的时候了。

In his speeches, Romney mentions Santorum less and less and focuses most of his attention on drawing a contrast with President Obama.

罗姆尼在演说中越来越少提到桑托勒姆。他强调自己和奥巴马的不同之处。

"The genius of America is that we nurture those dreams and the dreamers," said Romney. "We honor them and yes, we reward them. That is part of what is uniquely brilliant about America. But day by day, job-killing regulation by job-killing regulation, bureaucrat by bureaucrat, this president is crushing the dream and the dreamers and I will make sure that finally ends!"

他说：“美国人的才智在于我们培养梦想和梦想者。我们尊重他们，并且带给他们酬偿。这正是美国独有的辉煌。但是一天天，一个又一个挫伤工作机会的法规，一项又一项的官僚体制，这位总统在摧毁梦想和梦想者。我一定要终止这个趋势。”

Romney's base of support among Republican voters includes those who say their top priority is defeating Obama in November. He also does well among Republicans who describe themselves as moderates.

在共和党选民中，强力支持罗姆尼的是那些声言以击败奥巴马为首要目标的人。罗姆尼在那些自认为是温和派的共和党人中也广受支持。

Rick Santorum continues to draw support from religious voters and from Republicans who consider themselves very conservative. He argues that he would offer general election voters a bolder alternative to the president than would Romney.

桑托勒姆继续寻求宗教气息浓厚的选民以及自认为很保守的共和党人的支持。他声称在大选时， 他给选民提供的选择要比罗姆尼更为广泛。

"They want someone who is not going to go to Washington, D.C. because they want to be the most powerful person in the world to manage Washington," said Santorum. "They want someone who is going to take that power and give it back to the people of this country!"

他说：“选民们要的是这样一个人，他去华盛顿不是因为他要成为全世界最有权力的管理华盛顿的人。选民们希望这个人获得权力，将权力归还给这个国家的人民。”

It takes the support of 1,144 delegates to secure the Republican nomination at the party's nominating convention in Tampa, Florida, in late August.

8月下旬，共和党人要在佛罗里达州坦帕市举行党提名大会，而赢得总统侯选人提名，必须有1,144张党代表票的支持。

The latest Associated Press unofficial tally gives Romney more than 560 delegates, more than twice as many as Santorum.

根据美联社最近一次的非正式计算，罗姆尼已经获得560名党代表票。比桑托勒姆多出一倍有余。

Santorum is favored in the next primary in Louisiana on Saturday, but expert Henry Olsen of the American Enterprise Institute says Romney remains the strong favorite to eventually win the nomination.

桑托勒姆在将于星期六举行的路易斯安那州初选中，声望看好。但是美国企业研究所的专家奥尔森说，罗姆尼最终赢得提名的机会，仍旧被认为最高。

"I think right now the way things are going, Mitt Romney just needs to be patient and he's going to be the nominee," noted Olsen.

奥尔森说：“我认为依现在事态的走势，罗姆尼要做的就是保持耐性。他将成为共和党提名的候选人。”

Some analysts note that Republican voter turnout in the primaries and caucuses this year is down from four years ago. Some party leaders have also expressed concern that the lengthy and divisive primary campaign could hurt Republican chances in November.

But John Fortier of the Bipartisan Policy Center expects that the Republican Party will unify behind its nominee in time for the general election campaign in November.

"I think there is a great likelihood at the end of the race that most Republican voters will come home, just as after the [Hillary] Clinton and [Barack] Obama race where there was bitterness and different types of voters, most Democratic voters ended up supporting the nominee," Fortier explained.

The delegate math demonstrates how difficult it would be for Santorum to overtake Romney at this point. Santorum would have to win about 70 percent of the remaining delegates at stake to win the nomination, while Romney only needs to win about 45 percent to emerge victorious.