時事新聞:颶風也是福,奧巴馬獲紐約市長支持

The impact of the superstorm Sandy was felt directly on the presidentiAl election on Thursday when the popular mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, threw his support behind Barack Obama, citing Republican challenger Mitt Romney's failure to back climate change measures.

颶風桑迪的影響直接影響了週四的總統大選當受歡迎的紐約市長邁克爾•布隆伯格支持奧巴馬，指出了共和黨競選對手米特•羅姆尼在支持氣候變化措施上的失敗。

Bloomberg combined his endorsement of Obama with a devastating attack on Romney for reversing his positions not only on climate change but on immigration, guns, abortion rights and healthcare.

布隆伯格支持奧巴馬，毀滅性的攻擊羅姆尼不僅把他的位置從氣候變化而且從移民問題、槍支、墮胎權和醫療保健上轉移。

His endorsement came as Obama received plaudits for his handling of the storm that has devastated New Jersey and New York and also hit Connecticut and West Virginia.

奧巴馬因其對摧毀新澤西和紐約也重創了康涅狄格和西弗吉尼亞州的颶風的處理而受到讚揚，他的認可也隨之而來。

The mayor, writing about the damage caused to New York by Sandy, praised Obama for having made some progress towards tackling climate change. He noted that Romney, too, had supported climate change moves in the past but has since backed away from them.

這位市長寫下了關於桑迪對紐約造成的損害，讚揚了奧巴馬應對氣候變化作出的成效。他提到羅姆尼過去也一直支持氣候變化舉措但現在已然放棄了他們。

In a powerful passage that can only hurt Romney, Bloomberg went on to write: "I believe Mitt Romney is a good and decent man, and he would bring valuable business experience to the Oval Office. He understands that America was built on the promise of equal opportunity, not equal results.

在一篇只會損害到羅姆尼的強大文章裏，布隆伯格接着寫道：“我相信羅姆尼是一個體面的好人，他會給白宮帶來有價值的商業經驗。他知道美國是建立在平等機會的承諾之上，而不是平等的結果。”

"In the past he has also taken sensible positions on immigration, illegal guns, abortion rights and healthcare. But he has reversed course on all of them, and is even running against the healthcare model he signed into law in Massachusetts."

“過去他也在移民問題、非法槍支、墮胎權利和醫療保健上採取了明智的立場。但是他已經全部改變了路線，甚至反對他在馬薩諸塞州簽署的醫療模型的法律。”

Obama said he was honoured to have Bloomberg's endorsement. "I deeply respect him for his leadership in business, philanthropy and government, and [I] appreciate the extraordinary job he's doing right now, leading New York City through these difficult days," the president said.

奧巴馬說他很榮幸有布隆伯格的支持。“我十分尊重他在商業、慈善和政府方面的領導力,[我]感謝他現在在做的非凡的工作，領導紐約市度過這段艱難的日子，”總統說。

"Mayor Bloomberg and I agree on the most important issues of our time – that the key to a strong economy is investing in the skills and education of our people, that immigration reform is essential to an open and dynamic democracy, and that climate change is a threat to our children's future.

“布隆伯格市長和我在我們時代的最重要的問題上保持着一致意見，繁榮經濟的關鍵是投資我們人民的技能和教育，移民改革對一個開放、生動的民主至關重要，氣候變化則威脅到我們孩子的未來。”

"Just as importantly, we agree that whether we are Democrats,Republicans, or independents, there is only one way to solve these challenges and move forward as a nation – together."

“同樣重要的是，我們同意不論我們是民主黨人還是共和黨人或無黨派人士，只有一種方法來解決這些挑戰，以及作爲一個國家一起前進。”

Bloomberg's support comes after New Jersey governor Chris Christie praised Obama for his handling of Sandy. Although Christie is a Republican and a prominent supporter of Romney, he went out of his way this week to repeatedly praise Obama's leadership in responding to the crisis.

布隆伯格的支持是在新澤西州州長克里斯•克里斯蒂稱讚奧巴馬對桑迪的處理之後。雖然克里斯蒂是一個共和黨且是羅姆尼的堅定支持者，這個星期他以自己的方式站出來一再稱讚奧巴馬在應對危機方面的領導力。

Bloomberg is an independent who had originally been a Democrat before switching to the Republicans in 2001. He won the mayorship as a Republican but fell out with the party in 2007.

布隆伯格是一個獨立人士，他原本是民主黨人2001年轉向共和黨。他贏得了市長選舉作爲共和黨人但在2007年就脫離該黨。

He concluded: "Presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan both found success while their parties were out of power in Congress – and President Obama can, too. If he listens to people on both sides of the aisle, and builds the trust of moderates, he can fulfil the hope he inspired four years ago and lead our country toward a better future for my children and yours. And that's why I will be voting for him."

他總結說:“當他們的政黨在國會失去權力時總統比爾•克林頓和羅納德•里根都獲得了成功——奧巴馬總統也可以。如果他傾聽兩方的人的意見，構建溫和派的信任，他可以實現他四年前燃起的希望，爲你我的孩子領導我們的國家走向一個更好的未來。這就是爲什麼我要投票給他。”

The Economist, which has a wide readership in the US, said in an editorial it had backed Obama four years ago and was doing so again. It regretted that Romney was too far removed from the centre.

《經濟學人》，它在美國擁有廣泛的讀者，在一篇社論中表示四年前它已經支持了奧巴馬，並將再次這樣做。它爲羅姆尼太遠離中心而遺憾。

Fellow Republicans downplayed the significance of Bloomberg's endorsement. "It's not surprising to me. Bloomberg is a very liberal political figure," said George Pataki, the former Republican governor of New York.

共和黨人淡化了布隆伯格的支持。“這對我來說並不奇怪。布隆伯格是一個非常自由的政治人物，”喬治•帕塔基，前共和黨紐約州長說。