经济学人239:鲍比一举夺魁 Bobby Laps the Field

 　　The Louisiana governor’s race

　　路易斯安那州州长竞选

　　Bobby laps the field

　　鲍比一举夺魁

　　Hints of a grander future in a comfortable victory

　　获胜轻而易举，美好未来初露端倪

　　THREE days before Louisianans headed to the polls on October 22nd, the leading Democratic candidate for governor, Tara Hollis, told an audience in the low double digits¹ at a campaign event, “I’m David, and I don’t mind taking on Goliath.” Goliath in this case was Bobby Jindal, the overwhelmingly popular Republican incumbent². Mrs Hollis’s sentiment was admirable, but David at least had a sling³.

　　路易斯安那州于10月22日举行州长投票选举。在这三天前的一次竞选活动中，最有希望的民主党人塔拉?侯丽斯（Tara Hollis）的得票数仅有可怜的两位数，但她告诉现场参加活动的人：“我就是大卫，我不怕歌利亚[注1]决一雌雄。”她所指的歌利亚便是共和党炙手可热的候选人鲍比?金达尔（Bobby Jindal）。侯丽斯的宣言令人敬佩，不过，大卫至少还有一根机弦[注2]。

　　In political terms, Mrs Hollis—a teacher from northern Louisiana galvanised into political action when her husband, who taught at the same school, was sacked—lacked even that. By her own admission she was a default candidate, becoming the Democratic front-runner because “no one else stepped forward—everyone thought someone would.” She complained of receiving no help from the national party: “They view Louisiana as a lost cause.” In early October Mr Jindal had over $6m on hand; Mrs Hollis had $384 (and 24 cents).

　　侯丽斯曾是北路易斯安那州一名教师，在与她同所学校任教的丈夫被解雇后，她投身政治运动。就政治层面而言，她的确缺少这样的“机弦”。她自己承认，她是那只出头鸟，之所以代表民主党参选是因为“没人愿意出这个风头——每人都希望别人挺身而出。”对于民主党未向她提供任何帮助一事，她也表达了自己的不满：“他们认为民主党在路易斯安那州的竞选注定失败。”十月初，金达尔手头有600万美元的竞选资金，而侯丽斯只有384美元（外加24美分）。

　　At her event Mrs Hollis spoke⁴ not of winning, but of holding Mr Jindal below 50%. Louisiana’s open-primary system pits all candidates against each other. If none wins an outright⁵ majority, the two leading candidates compete in a run-off election (if a candidate wins a majority, he wins the contest). But even in that modest goal she failed: Mr Jindal took 66% of the vote, and Mrs Hollis finished a distant second of ten candidates, with 18%. No other candidate cracked 5%. Mr Jindal’s victory eclipsed the record set by Edwin Edwards, a four-term governor who once boasted that the only way he could lose an election would be if he were caught in bed “with either a dead girl or a live boy”.

　　侯丽斯参选时曾表示，她的目标并非胜出，而是使得金达尔的得票率保持在50%以下。在路易斯安那州的开放预选制度下，所有候选人针锋相对。如果第一轮投票没有候选者获得绝对多数的投票，那么票数领先的两名候选人将在第二轮投票中决一死战（如果其中一名候选人赢得大多数投票，他就赢得了这场竞选）。但即使是如此保守的一个目标，侯丽斯也未能达到：金达尔获得了66%的投票率。尽管侯丽斯的得票率在10名候选者中位列第二，但仍与金达尔相距甚远——她仅有18%。其余候选人中没有一人的得票率突破了5%。金达尔的胜利使得爱德文?爱德华兹（Edwin Edwards）也相形见绌。爱德华兹担任了四届路易斯安那州州长，他曾宣称，使他失掉竞选的唯一可能便是抓到他“与一具女尸或一名男孩”捉奸在床。

　　Also setting a record was the low turnout of not quite 36%. This was perhaps unsurprising, as the election was held on a Saturday, and Mr Jindal’s overwhelming popularity, not to mention his crushing financial advantage, made his victory an all-but-foregone conclusion. He is an unusual figure in Louisiana politics: Ivy⁶ League educated, young and born in Baton⁷ Rouge⁸ just months after his parents emigrated there from Punjab. When he was elected four years ago, at 36, he was the youngest governor and the only Indian-American one (in 2010 South Carolina elected Nikki Haley, born to Punjabi parents six months after Mr Jindal). He has pushed hard for ethics⁹ reform; no mean feat¹⁰ in a state that, as one former congressman¹¹ put it, is half underwater and half under indictment¹².

　　同样创下纪录的，还有不到路易斯安那州人数36%的投票人数。这或许不足为奇，因为竞选是在周六举行的，此外，金达尔的广受欢迎，更别提他的经济优势，都使他赢得竞选几乎成了探囊取物。在路易斯安那州的政治家里，他算得上卓尔不群：毕业于常春藤盟校，年轻有为，在其父母从旁遮普移民到美国几个月后，他在路州首府巴吞鲁日出生。四年前，他赢得路州州长竞选时，年仅36岁，成为了美国最年轻同时也是唯一一位印裔州长[2010年，南卡罗莱纳州选举妮可?哈雷（Nikki Haley）为州长，父母也是来自旁遮普的她在金达尔赢得选举后的6个月也成功当选]。金达尔力推道德规范改革；正如一位前国会会员所评，在一个被洪灾和官司困扰的州，这算是了不起的成就了。

　　Mr Jindal won every parish—taking 38% of the vote even in heavily Democratic New Orleans—and exceeded his victory four years ago by 12 points. A couple of the other races on the ballot—particularly for lieutenant-governor—were more hotly contested, but in the end Republicans won them all. They now hold every statewide office save one Senate seat in Congress, to which Mary Landrieu perilously¹³ clings.

　　金达尔在路州各行政区的投票中都已胜出——甚至在民主党候选人较多的新奥尔良也获得了38%的投票率——其获得的平均投票率较四年前高出12个百分点。而其他竞选中——尤其是副州长竞选中——竞争更为激烈，不过最终仍是共和党大获全胜。除了玛丽?兰德鲁（Mary Landrieu）难以保住的一个国会议员席位外，共和党已掌控了各州政府。

　　The question now is how long Mr Jindal remains¹⁴ in office. If Republicans win the presidency¹⁵, he could find himself in the cabinet. If Rick Perry wins the nomination¹⁶, he could find himself sharing the ticket: he endorsed¹⁷ Mr Perry early and enthusiastically. Should Barack Obama win, Mr Jindal could easily snatch that one last Senate seat from Ms Landrieu. Mr Jindal says he plans to serve out his full term as governor. Such plans are easily changed.

　　当前问题是，金达尔的州长任期会有多长。如果共和党赢得总统大选，他也许就能跻身内阁。如果瑞奇?佩里（Rick Perry）赢得总统候选人提名，金达尔也许也能成为候选人之一：他一开始就全力支持佩里。如果巴拉克?奥巴马（Barack Obama）成功连任，金达尔也许就能轻易获得兰德鲁手中的议员席位。金达尔说他计划担任州长一职直至任期结束。不过，这种计划很容易就改弦易辙。

1 digits   

n.数字( digit的名词复数 )；手指，足趾

参考例句：

• The number 1000 contains four digits. 1000是四位数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The number 410 contains three digits. 数字 410 中包括三个数目字。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

3 sling   

vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓

参考例句：

• The boy discharged a stone from a sling.这个男孩用弹弓射石头。
• By using a hoist the movers were able to sling the piano to the third floor.搬运工人用吊车才把钢琴吊到3楼。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

6 ivy   

n.常青藤，常春藤

参考例句：

• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。
• The wall is covered all over with ivy.墙上爬满了常春藤。

7 baton   

n.乐队用指挥杖

参考例句：

• With the baton the conductor was beating time.乐队指挥用指挥棒打拍子。
• The conductor waved his baton,and the band started up.指挥挥动指挥棒，乐队开始演奏起来。

8 rouge   

n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红

参考例句：

• Women put rouge on their cheeks to make their faces pretty.女人往面颊上涂胭脂，使脸更漂亮。
• She didn't need any powder or lip rouge to make her pretty.她天生漂亮，不需要任何脂粉唇膏打扮自己。

9 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

10 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。

11 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

12 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

13 perilously   

adv.充满危险地，危机四伏地

参考例句：

• They were perilously close to the edge of the precipice. 他们离悬崖边很近，十分危险。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It'seemed to me that we had come perilously close to failure already. 对我来说，好像失败和我只有一步之遥，岌岌可危。 来自互联网

14 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

15 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

16 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

17 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》