双语新闻：美大选格局骤然紧张
Campaign Moods Shift as Contest TightensThe last debate behind him and 14 grueling days ahead, President Obama is now facing what he worked so hard toavoid: a neck-and-neck race with a challenger gaining steamwhen it matters most.
最后一场辩论已经过去，让人精疲力竭的14个日夜就在眼前，奥巴马总统现在面临的局面正是他竭力想避免的：一场势均力敌的大选，对手却在最关键的时刻凝聚人气。
Over the last month, through the debates and a gradual moderation of the conservative tone hestruck during the Republican primaries, Mitt Romney undermined the Democrats’ expensivesummertime work of casting him as the candidate of and for the rich, emerging as a far moreformidable opponent than Mr. Obama had ever expected.
过去一个月里，通过三场辩论，通过逐渐缓和自己在共和党初选期间采取的保守主义立场，米特·罗姆尼(Mitt Romney)化解了民主党在今夏把他塑造成富人阶层成员及利益代表的耗资巨大的努力，成为一名远超奥巴马预期的强大对手。
“For the first time in this race, I’d rather be us than them,” said Senator Marco Rubio, Republican ofFlorida, crediting Mr. Romney’s strength in the first debate as a critical shift in the campaign. “Theyspent months building him up as one thing and one night he disproved it.”
佛罗里达州共和党参议员马尔科·卢比奥(Marco Rubio)说，“竞选开始以来第一次，我更愿意置身于我们这边，而不是他们那边。”他称赞罗姆尼在第一场辩论中的表现是竞选的关键转折点，“他们花了几个月把他说成是某种人，结果被他一夜推翻。”
The president, aware of deepening worry among Democrats about the prospect of losing theWhite House, came out aggressively here on Monday night and belittled his rival’s foreign policyexperience. He accused Mr. Romney of imposing “wrong and reckless leadership,” in a bid to keepvoters from seeing him as a credible commander in chief.
意识到民主党人越来越担心白宫失守的奥巴马总统，周一晚间在博卡拉顿强势出击，贬损对手的外交政策经验。奥巴马指责罗姆尼强加“错误而鲁莽的领导力”，企图不让选民把罗姆尼视为可信的最高统帅。
The race is suddenly so tight that both sides are eyeing a single Congressional district in Mainewhose one electoral vote, in the event of an exceedingly tight outcome, could decide whether Mr. Romney or Mr. Obama is in the White House come Jan. 20.
竞选格局骤然紧张，以致双方都着眼于缅因州的单个国会选区。这个选区将决出一张选举人票，如果选举结果异常接近的话，这张票可能会决定是罗姆尼还是奥巴马明年1月20日入主白宫。
The growing sense of optimism inside the Romney campaign was visible in the newly relaxed facesof its senior advisers as they lounged poolside at their hotel in Delray Beach, Fla, before Monday’sdebate, ticking through states where they see new opportunities and rising poll numbers. Back inBoston, a senior aide marveled at how much the mood had changed from one month ago, gallowshumor giving way to a realization that “we’re in it.”
罗姆尼竞选团队内部日益增长的乐观情绪，在其高级顾问们新近放松的脸上清晰可见。周一辩论之前，他们在佛罗里达州德拉海滩的酒店游泳池旁懒洋洋地躺着，清点着他们看到新机会和民调数据上升的州。在波士顿总部，一名高级助理对情绪的巨大变化惊叹不已：一个月前的黑色幽默已让位于“我们胜利在望”的意识。
Obama officials emphatically pointed to advantages they still hold in critical swing states as their lifeline.
奥巴马竞选团队的官员则竭力指出，他们仍在关键的摇摆州握有优势，这是他们的生命线。
“This race has automatically tightened as everybody in the Obama campaign predicted that itwould, but he’s ahead in the critical states,” Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, Mr. Obama’sdebate sparring partner, said.
奥巴马的辩论陪练、马萨诸塞州参议员约翰·克里(John Kerry)说，“这场大选自然而然地变得胶着起来，这正是奥巴马竞选团队中所有人的预期。但他在关键州保持领先。”
But it is now unmistakable that Mr. Obama, long privately dismissive of his rival, is focused onprotecting some of his safest turf and Mr. Romney is seeing new opportunities to take it.
但现在毋庸置疑的是，一直在私下里不把对手放在眼里的奥巴马，正专注于保护自己某些最保险的地盘，而罗姆尼正看到夺取这些地盘的新机遇。
Though polls have shown a mix of results, it is more often than not Mr. Romney who is on theupward trajectory, if not always overtaking Mr. Obama, then, at least, cutting into his leads amongimportant constituencies. For instance a CBS News poll released Monday showed his edge amongwomen was down to 5 percentage points from 12 a month ago. Another, from CBS News andQuinnipiac University, showed Mr. Obama’s lead in Ohio among likely voters narrowing to fivepercentage points from 10 points last month.
虽然民调结果不一，但多半显示了罗姆尼的上升势头，就算不总是超越奥巴马，他也至少在重要选民人群中削弱了奥巴马的优势。比方说，CBS新闻部(CBS News)周一公布的民调显示，奥巴马在女性选民中的优势由一个月前的12个百分点降至5个百分点。另一项CBS新闻部和昆尼皮亚克大学(Quinnipiac University)的联合民调则显示，奥巴马在俄亥俄州可能投票的选民中的优势，已从上个月的10个百分点降至5个百分点。
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