VOA常速英语2014--美国国会中期选举 两党作最后努力（在线收听）

US Candidates Make Final Pitches Ahead of Midterm Elections 美国国会中期选举 两党作最后努力

WASHINGTON— 

Across the United States, candidates are making final pleas for votes ahead of midterm elections Tuesday. At stake: which party will control each house of the U.S. Congress for President Barack Obama’s final two years in office.

美国将在周二举行中期选举，全美各地的候选人在投票前夕进行最后冲刺，问题是究竟哪一党将在奥巴马总统最后两年任内控制美国国会参众两院? 根据最新的一份民意调查显示，随着选战进入尾声，选民们似乎倾向于支持共和党。

It is crunch time for candidates seeking to rally supporters and convince any remaining undecided voters.

美国中期选举进入最后的关键时刻，候选人使出全力动员支持者并争取剩下的中间选民。

“We are reminding everybody about the power to make a difference in this election by getting out and voting,” explained Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Michelle Nunn.

乔治亚州民主党参议员候选人米歇尔.纳恩说： “我们提醒所有的人，只要在这场选举中出来投票，你就有力量可以作出改变。”

Both parties have deployed their biggest names to the campaign trails: former Republican presidential contenders Mitt Romney and John McCain, and, on the Democratic side, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

两党都部署了重量级的人物助选，共和党推出曾和奥巴马竞选总统宝座的罗姆尼和麦坎恩，民主党方面则请出前总统克林顿和前国务卿希拉里站台。

Notably absent from most Democratic campaigns: President Obama, whose declining approval numbers have vulnerable Democratic lawmakers distancing themselves from the White House. Even so, Obama did make a campaign appearance in Michigan last week.

不过奥巴马总统却明显地在大多数民主党候选人的竞选造势活动中缺席，奥巴马总统的支持率不断下滑，导致选情告急的民主党候选人纷纷和白宫保持距离，即便如此，奥巴马总统上周仍前往密歇根州出席竞选造势活动。

“I want to tell you why you need to vote. This country has made real progress since the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes,” the president told the audience. “Over the past four and a half years, we have seen American businesses create more than 10 million new jobs. Over the past six months, our economy has grown at the fastest pace in more than 10 years.”

美国总统奥巴马说：“我要告诉你们，为什么必须投票，这个国家在经历了我们有生以来最严重的经济危机之后正在取得真正的进展。过去四年半来，我们看到美国企业创造了超过一千万个新的工作机会，过去六个月来，我们的经济以过去十年来最快的速度迅猛成长。”

“Barack Obama finds himself in the same kind of position that [former President George W.] Bush did six years ago,” explains political analyst Norm Ornstein. “For an awful lot of his own candidates, persona non-grata [unwelcome], except for raising money. They do not want to have the president side-by-side with them.”

美国企业研究所的政治分析人士诺曼?奥恩斯坦表示：“奥巴马发现他自己的处境和六年前的小布什总统一样，有许多党内的候选人将他视为不受欢迎人物，除了藉总统之名吸引竞选募款之外，他们不希望奥巴马总统来帮他们站台。”

Republicans, on the other hand, are eager to tie their Democratic opponents to the president.

另一方面，共和党则是有意把民主党的对手和奥巴马总统联系在一起。

“The Obama-Shaheen agenda ends right here, right now!” said Senate candidate Scott Brown while campaigning in New Hampshire.

新罕布什尔州的共和党参议员候选人史考特布朗表示：“奥巴马和夏欣的政策必须立刻停止!”

Republicans are widely expected to retain control of the House of Representatives. In the Senate, they would need a net gain of six seats to seize control from Democrats.

外界普遍预计共和党将继续控制众议院，共和党在参议院必须拿下六席才能从民主党手中夺得控制权。

“We have a fairly clear idea that the trends favor, as they normally would, the Republican Party,” Ornstein said. “The party out of the presidency does well in midterms. It is a tough road for Democrats. There is a route to keeping the [Senate] majority. Republicans have multiple routes to taking a majority.”

诺曼.奥恩斯坦表示：“我们可以清楚地看到民意倾向于共和党，在总统大选中失利的政党通常会在中期选举中表现亮丽，民主党的竞选之路非常艰难，要守住参议院的多数地位只有一条路线，但共和党却有许多途径可以取得参议院的多数地位。”

Democrats tout a massive voter mobilization effort they say will prove the polls wrong. Republicans, meanwhile, are sounding increasingly confident of victory on Tuesday. But as always, those who show up to vote on November 4 will have the final say.

民主党全力动员选民，他们说将证明民意调查是错误的，共和党也有信心在星期二取得胜利，而明天出来投票的选民则握有最后的决定权。