For the next six weeks, the Democratic presidential race between Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will focus on the state of Pennsylvania. The northeastern state holds its presidential primary on April 22.
民主党总统参选人联邦参议员巴拉克.奥巴马和希拉里.克林顿今后6个星期的角逐重点是宾夕法尼亚州。宾州4月22号举行初选。
Barack Obama continues to lead in the delegate count for the Democratic nomination, but Hillary Clinton's victories in the large states of Texas and Ohio have propelled her back into the race.
奥巴马在争夺民主党总统候选人提名的角逐中赢得的代表票数继续领先，可是克林顿在德克萨斯州和俄亥俄州等大州的胜利对她继续竞选注入了活力。
Clinton has had some success in raising questions about Obama's readiness to be president and commander and chief, and it is likely she will continue that line of attack in the weeks to come.
克林顿使选民对奥巴马是否已经具备出任总统并成为全军统帅的条件提出疑问，她很可能在今后几个星期继续沿续这种竞选策略。
"Senator McCain will bring a lifetime of experience to the campaign," Clinton said. "I will bring a lifetime of experience, and Senator Obama will bring a speech that he gave in 2002. I think that is a significant difference."
克林顿说：“麦凯恩参议员带著他一生的经验参加竞选，我也带著一生的经验，而奥巴马参议员带给选民的是他2002年的一次演讲。我认为，这有很大不同。”
Public-opinion polls give Clinton the edge in Pennsylvania, though recent surveys show Obama cutting into her advantage.
民调显示，克林顿在宾州领先，但奥巴马正赶上来。
Pennsylvania is similar to Ohio in its demographic makeup, with lots of working class voters and women who have tended to support Clinton over Obama in most of the other Democratic caucuses and primaries.
宾州的人口构成跟俄亥俄州相似，有大量工薪阶层选民和妇女选民，在其他州的民主党初选中，这部分选民倾向于支持克林顿。
Stuart Rothenberg publishes a political newsletter in Washington and was a guest on VOA's Encounter program:
斯图尔特.罗森伯格在华盛顿出版政治时事通讯。
"You have to understand that Senator Clinton has been performing much better among certain kinds of voters, Latino voters, older voters, women voters and downscale voters, that is very partisan Democrats who have come from less affluent families and have less formal education. Senator Obama has been doing very well with independents, with younger voters, with, of course, African-Americans and with upscale voters, high education, high income voters," Rothenberg said.
他说：“克林顿参议员在某些选民中很有人缘，比如拉美裔选民、年长选民和低收入选民。他们不太富裕，没有受到过正规教育。奥巴马参议员的支持者大多是独立选民、年轻人，当然还有黑人。支持奥巴马的选民还包括富裕阶层、受过高等教育和高薪阶层的人士。”
Clinton hopes to raise enough questions about Obama and his experience that even though he leads in the delegate count, some of the so-called super delegates may be drawn to support her at the Democrat's national nominating convention in August.
克林顿希望对奥巴马以及他的从政经验提出更多的质疑。这样，尽管奥巴马的代表票数领先，但是在8月的民主党全国代表大会上，一些超级代表可能还是会支持克林顿。
Super delegates are party activists and elected Democratic officials who attend the convention as uncommitted delegates, and can decide to support whomever they want.
In recent days, Obama has fired back at Clinton's claims about his experience, and continues to cite her initial support of the Iraq war as a key point of difference between the two of them.
最近，奥巴马对有关他从政经验的说法进行反击，并继续用希拉里支持伊拉克战争为例来说明两人之间的重要区别。
"I believe I offer a clean break from the policies of George Bush, because Senator Clinton went along with George Bush on the war in Iraq," Obama said. "Senator Clinton went along with George Bush on her willingness to try to saber-rattle when it came to Iran."
奥巴马说：“我的政策立场和乔治.布什截然不同，而克林顿参议员在伊拉克战争问题上附和乔治.布什，而且还附和乔治.布什试图以武力让伊朗就范。”
Obama will be targeting super delegates in his strategy as well. Obama is expected to maintain his lead in the delegate count through the end of the primary season in June. But he will need help from some of the super delegates at the convention to give him enough additional votes to secure the party nomination.
奥巴马也要争取超级代表。预计，奥巴马在6月初选结束时将保持代表票数领先的优势。但是，他需要一些超级代表的支持，以确保获得党内提名所需的足够票数。
Political expert John Fortier of the American Enterprise Institute is keeping a close eye on the battle for uncommitted super delegates.
美国企业研究所政治问题专家约翰.弗蒂亚正密切关注奥巴马和克林顿对超级代表的争夺。
"If the super delegates provide a little bit extra margin needed to get over the top, I do not think that is controversial in itself, and it has happened in the past," Fortier said. "The controversial scenario is that the candidates are relatively close and the candidate who is behind in pledged delegates gets more super delegates and throws him or herself over the top. And that is the scenario some people speculate for Hillary Clinton."
他说：“如果超级代表让某位参选人的优势更大，这不会引起什么争议。会引起争议的情况是，参选人不相上下，但在代表票数上稍微落后的参选人因为得到比较多的超级代表的支持而反超。有人推测克林顿身上会出现这种情况。”
While Clinton has re-energized her campaign in recent weeks, many experts note public-opinion polls that suggest Obama would be the stronger general election candidate against Republican John McCain.
尽管克林顿的竞选最近几个星期恢复了生机，但是几次民调都显示，奥巴马在大选中会是共和党候选人约翰.麦凯恩的更强劲对手。
Analyst Stuart Rothenberg expects Obama to emphasize this point in the weeks ahead.
罗森伯格预计，奥巴马今后几个星期将重点谈到这个问题。
"I did want to raise one problem that I think she has in Pennsylvania and from now on, which is this issue of electability," Rothenberg said. "If you look at all the national polls, she does not run as well against Senator McCain as Barack Obama does."
Uncommitted super delegates like Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania will be watching the campaign unfold in the weeks to come. Casey told MSNBC television that he is concerned about pulling the Democratic Party together once the bruising nomination battle between Obama and Clinton is settled.
宾州联邦参议员鲍博.凯西等还没有表态的超级代表会密切注视未来几个星期的选情发展。凯西说，他关心的是奥巴马跟克林顿的激战结束之后，如何让民主党团结起来：
"I think our nominee has a chance not just to win, but to win with a mandate," Casey said. "But you cannot win with a mandate if you do not bring the sides together. So we are looking forward to a continuing vigorous debate, but I think we are going to have to work hard on unity."
“我认为，我们的候选人不仅有机会获胜，而且会大胜。但是，如果我们不把各方团结起来，就不可能大胜。所以，我们期待着双方继续进行激烈的辩论，同时还必须要加倍努力，实现党内团结。”
Democrats will not have much time to unify the party after their national convention in late August. In contrast, the presumptive Republican nominee, John McCain, has begun that task with months to go until the Republicans formally ratify him as their candidate at their national convention in early September.
民主党在8月开完全国大会之后就没有多少时间来团结全党了。相比之下，有可能得到共和党总统候选人提名麦凯恩却有好几个月的时间来做这件事。 |