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The three major candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination¹ met Monday in a debate televised by the Cable News Network and co-sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus² Institute. The event, which took place in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, featured an exchange of sharp barbs³ between Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama - both of whom are in a tight race for first place in that state's January 26 primary.

竞争民主党总统候选人提名的3名主要竞争者星期一在有线电视新闻网(CNN)和国会黑人议员团联合举办的辩论会上对阵。在南卡罗来纳州的默特尔比奇举行的辩论会上，希拉里.克林顿参议员和奥巴马参议员进行了尖刻的言辞交锋。南卡罗来纳州将在1月26号举行民主党总统候选人初选，目前两位参议员在该州的竞选势均力敌。

The two-hour debate got off to a quick start, with fireworks between the two leading candidates over remarks Senator Obama made in an interview in Reno, which Senator Clinton said were favorable to Republicans.

延续两个小时的辩论会一开始就很快进入实战。两位领先的民主党总统候选人提名竞争者就奥巴马参议员在雷诺接受采访的时候发表的言论进行了激烈的争论。克林顿参议员说，奥巴马的言论有利于共和党人。

Clinton: "In an editorial board with the Reno newspaper, you said two different things, because I have read the transcript⁴, you talked about Ronald Reagan being a transformative figure. I did not mention his name."

克林顿参议员对奥巴马参议员说：“在跟雷诺的那家报纸社论版编辑交谈的时候，你说了两种不同的话，我读了你的谈话的文字记录。你说里根是一个突破体制的人物。我根本就没有提里根的名字。”

Obama: "Your husband did."

奥巴马参议员说：“你没提，但是，你的丈夫提了。”

Clinton: "Well, I am here, he is not."

克林顿参议员说：“现在在这里的是我，不是我丈夫。”

Obama: "It is hard to tell who I am running against sometimes."

奥巴马参议员立即反驳道：“有时候我难于弄请我到底是在跟谁竞选。”

Senator Obama said he had referred to former President Ronald Reagan as a transformative figure in American politics and denied he had praised him or Republican ideas. He also objected to what he called misrepresentation of his position on the Iraq war by Senator Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton. The two also clashed over other matters, including their former work experiences. At one point, Obama said he was working with poor people on the streets in Chicago while Clinton was a lawyer sitting on the corporate⁵ board of Wal-mart. Clinton accused Obama of having worked for a Chicago slum lord.

奥巴马参议员说，他提到前总统里根在美国政坛上是一个突破体制的人，但是，他否认他对里根或共和党的思想进行了赞扬。他还说，克林顿参议员的丈夫、前总统克林顿歪曲了他奥巴马在伊拉克战争问题上的立场。两位参议员还在其他一些问题上展示了他们相左的观点，这些问题包括他们先前的工作经历。奥巴马参议员说，他一度在芝加哥街头为穷人工作，而希拉里.克林顿则是名列零售业巨头沃尔马公司董事会的律师。希拉里.克林顿则指责奥巴马一度为芝加哥一个贫民窟黑心房东效力。

The third participant in the debate, Senator Edwards, chastised⁶ both of his opponents for their rhetoric⁷. "This kind of squabbling, how many children is this going to get health care? How many people are going to get an education? How many kids are going to go to college because of this?"

辩论会的第三位参加者、前参议员爱德华兹则对这两位竞争者的言词提出了批评：“这种争吵究竟有什么用处？有多少儿童会因此而得到医疗保健福利？有多少人会因此得到教育机会？有多少孩子会因此而可以上大学？

In the second half of the debate, the three candidates sat next to each other in a more informal discussion. They talked about such issues as the economy, health care and the war in Iraq. Both Clinton and Edwards said they would remove U.S. troops from Iraq soon after taking office. Obama said he would "be as careful getting out as we were careless getting in."

在辩论会的下半场，3位竞争者并肩而坐，进行了形式比较轻松的讨论。他们讨论的问题包括经济、医疗保健以及伊拉克战争。克林顿和爱德华兹都表示，他们假如当选总统，就会从伊拉克撤出美军。奥巴马则表示，当年美国粗率地进入伊拉克，他则力图谨慎地撤出伊拉克。

The debate took place on a national holiday, Martin Luther King Day, and the last question for all three was why the great civil rights leader would back them, if he were alive today. Edwards emphasized his southern upbringing and his support for civil rights. Obama said he did not think King would endorse⁸ anyone, but he said change starts from the grassroots and that he would support that kind of change. Clinton said the country is strongest when political leaders emphasize the values the civil rights movement represented. Nearly half of South Carolina's voters are black and public opinion polls indicate Obama, who is black, in the lead there. However, Clinton also has strong appeal to many black voters and to women, in particular.

星期一是美国的马丁.路德.金节。因此，他们被问到的最后一个问题是，假如马丁.路德.金这位伟大的民权运动领袖今天还活著，他有什么理由对他们表示支持。爱德华兹强调了他在南方长大成人的经历，以及他对民权的支持。奥巴马泽说，他不认为马丁.路德.金会对他们当中的任何一个人表示明确的支持。他说，变革来自底层，他支持这种来自底层的变革。克林顿则说，只有政界领袖强调民权运动所代表的那些价值观的时候，美国才最强大。民意测验显示，作为黑人的奥巴马在那里领先。但是，克林顿对很多黑人选民，尤其是对妇女选民很有吸引力。

The South Carolina Democratic primary this coming Saturday will be followed very quickly by the Florida primary on January 29 and the so-called Super Tuesday, February 5, in which 22 states will hold primaries and caucuses⁹.

在本星期六，南卡罗来纳州就要举行民主党总统候选人初选。接下来，佛罗里达州要在1月29号举行初选。然后，就是所谓的超级星期二，2月5号，有22个州要举行初选或基层党团会议选举。