Tone of US Presidential Campaigns Sharpens
美两党总统竞选班子加紧攻击对手
With roughly one month to go until Election Day in the United States, the two major presidential campaigns are stepping up their attacks on each other.
目前距离11月4号美国选举日还有大约1个月的时间，两个政党的总统竞选班子都加紧了对对手的攻击。
The tone turned harder this weekend when Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin launched a new line of attack on Barack Obama.
这个周末，共和党副总统候选人佩林对民主党总统候选人奥巴马展开了新一轮攻击，口气变得更为强硬。
"Our opponent is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country," she said.
佩林说：“奥巴马认为美国有很多问题，因此要和那些把美国作为攻击目标的恐怖分子称兄道弟。”
She was speaking about Obama's association with William Ayres, a college professor who founded a radical group called the Weather Underground in the 1960s.
她指的是奥巴马和前左翼组织领导人艾瑞斯的关系。艾瑞斯是一名大学教授，他在上个世纪60年代建立了一个叫“地下天气”的激进组织。
The group claimed responsibility for bombings on several government buildings as a form of protest during the Vietnam War. Ayres never refuted the claims, but was also never convicted, and later went on to an academic career in Chicago that brought him into contact with Barack Obama.
该组织声称策划了几起针对政府办公楼的炸弹袭击，目的是抗议越南战争。艾瑞斯从没有否认过这种说法，但是他也从来没有被定罪，后来他进入了芝加哥学术界并结识了奥巴马。
Ayres hosted a fundraiser more than a decade ago when Obama was running for the Illinois state senate, and they served together on a charity board. But Obama says they were never close and could hardly be called pals.
It is not unusual for vice presidential candidates in the United States to use tough rhetoric, enabling the presidential nominees to stay above the fray. Both Governor Palin and Democratic Senator Joe Biden have done so before and likely will again.
在美国，副总统候选人经常使用激烈的言辞来攻击对手，免得总统候选人参与这种争吵。共和党的佩林和民主党的副总统候选人拜登都这样做过，以后可能还会这样做。
But Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri says these particular comments are a sign the McCain campaign is trying to divert attention from the economy. She appeared on the Fox News Sunday television program.
不过，密苏里州的民主党参议员麦卡斯基尔说，佩林的这些话表明，麦凯恩阵营试图把人们的注意力从经济问题上转移开。麦卡斯基尔在接受福克斯电视新闻周日节目采访时说：
"Do they really think that America is going to think that Barack Obama is palling around with terrorists? What that man did, Barack Obama has condemned," she said. "And by the way, he did it when Barack Obama was eight years old!"
“他们真的认为美国人会相信奥巴马在结交恐怖分子么？艾瑞斯的所作所为，奥巴马是加以谴责的。另外，艾瑞斯策划这些袭击的时候，奥巴马只有8岁!”
But McCain supporters in Congress say the Republican candidate is right to raise questions about Obama's character.
不过，麦凯恩在国会的支持们说，麦凯恩对奥巴马人品的怀疑是正确的。
Republican Senator Mel Martinez - from the battleground state of Florida - told ABC's This Week that these are legitimate concerns. He stressed Obama came into contact with Ayres at a time when he was just launching his career in politics.
来自两党激烈交锋的佛罗里达州的共和党参议员马丁内斯在美国广播公司的“本周”节目中说，麦凯恩班子提出的是合理的担心。他强调说，奥巴马是在刚刚开始自己的政治生涯时结识艾瑞斯的。
"It is about his judgment and who he associated with during those years and right on into this political campaign," he said.
他说：“这件事的重点是奥巴马在那些年中和这次竞选活动中所具备的判断力，以及他结交的是什么样的人。”
The morning after the Palin comments, the Obama campaign struck back with a new television ad, targeting John McCain's temperament, and calling into question his behavior during Congressional deliberations on the financial crisis.
就在佩林发表这一攻击后的第二天早上，奥巴马的选举班子推出了一条新的电视广告进行回击。这条广告把矛头直指麦凯恩的性格，并且对他在国会讨论金融危机时的行为是否恰当提出疑问。
"Our financial system [is] in turmoil, and John McCain [was] erratic and out of touch on the economy. No matter his campaign wants to change the subject," the ad says.
奥巴马说：“我们的金融系统陷入了动荡，而麦凯恩性格偏激，他脱离了美国的经济现实。怪不得他的竞选班子想转移话题!”
Ads from both candidates are expected to intensify and perhaps grow more negative in tone as Election Day approaches. Latest voter surveys show Obama currently in the lead, but in a campaign full of twists and turns, analysts say anything can happen between now and November 4.
预计，随着选举日的临近，两个阵营的广告内容都将变得更激烈、更负面。最近的选民调查显示，奥巴马目前保持领先地位。不过，分析人士说，在这场曲折不定的竞选中，在11月4号前任何事都可能发生。
