VOA双语新闻2008年：Youth Plays Big Role in Obama's Vict

After the overwhelming victory of Senator Barack Obama in the South Carolina Democratic primary Saturday, political analysts 1 are examining the results and speculating on where the campaign goes from here. South Carolina, pundits 2 say young voters may play a big role in determining the outcome of the next contests.

奥巴马参议员星期六在南卡罗来纳州的民主党初选中取得了压倒胜利，政治分析人士对这结果加以研究，并预测今后竞选的走向。专家学者认为年轻选民可能会在以后的竞争中决定胜负的重要作用。



Senator Obama and his supporters are looking over the results here in South Carolina and honing their strategy for the upcoming primaries. In some ways South Carolina was unique, especially in terms of the role played by black voters. Much of Obama's overwhelming margin of success was owed to black voters, who made up about half of the overall turnout.

奥巴马参议员及其支持者正在研究他们在南卡罗来纳州取得的胜利，并审议他们在今后初选中的策略。南卡罗来纳州从某些方面来说有其独一无二的特点，尤其在黑人选民所发挥的作用上。奥巴马的遥遥领先多半是由于黑人选民，他们几乎占全部投票人数的一半。



But by winning a quarter of the white vote, Obama showed he could draw votes across racial lines even in a deep South state. In his victory speech, Obama rejected the idea that his campaign was about race or any other divisive issue.

奥巴马也赢得了四分之一的白人选票，这显示，既使在地处大南方的州里，他也能冲破种族界线。 奥巴马在自己的得胜演说中驳斥了有些人的看法，有人认为，他的竞选是围绕种族或者其他导致分裂的问题。



"This election is about the past versus 4 the future," said Barack Obama.

奥巴马说：“这次选举是过去与未来的较量。”



His words made clear that Obama sees himself as the champion of the future and his chief opponent, Senator Hillary Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, as representatives of a past that many young people, in particular, would like to leave behind.

他的话表明，奥巴马认为自己是未来的胜利者，而他的主要对手希拉里.克林顿参议员及其丈夫比尔.克林顿却代表过去，而尤其是许多年轻人都希望抛弃“过去”。



Obama won 50 percent of the vote among white people 18 to 29 years of age in South Carolina. He also scored well among middle-income voters with a college education. Obama South Carolina campaign spokesperson Amaya Smith says young people who support Barack Obama reject racial politics, gender 5 politics and rigid 6 partisan 7 positions.

奥巴马在南卡罗来纳州的18到29岁的白人选民中赢得了一半的选票，他在中等收入、具有大学教育水平的选民中的得票率也不错。奥巴马在南卡罗来纳州的竞选发言人 阿马亚.史密斯说，支持奥巴马的年轻人反对种族政治、性别政治和僵硬的党派立场。



"I think they tend to be more concerned about bringing this country together, they are not involved in the old partisan fights and some of the old bickering 8 that we have seen in the past from the politics of the old and, I think, they are not the type to demonize someone necessarily from the other party," said Amaya Smith. "They tend to be independent as well."

他说：“我认为他们更关注如何把这个国家团结起来，他们不参与过去的党派斗争，也不卷入我们以前在陈旧政治中所看到的翻老账式的争吵。我觉得他们不属于那种出于需要而把不同党派中的某人妖魔化的那种人。他们的思想倾向于独立。”



One segment of the electorate 9 that has not responded well to Obama's message so far is that of Latinos. In Nevada, where there is a large Hispanic population, most of that vote went to Hillary Clinton.

对奥巴马的竞选没有做出积极反应的群体之一是拉美裔选民，在有大量拉美裔人口的内华达州，拉美裔大多把选票投向希拉里.克林顿。



Latinos are a much smaller part of the population in the South, but they are here. Maru Gonzalez, who comes from a Puerto Rican family, is an Obama supporter from Atlanta, Georgia, who came here to help with the campaign. She says many Latinos favor Hillary Clinton because they associate her with the accomplishments 10 of her husband when he was president.

拉美裔人口在美国南方占的比例小得多，但是不等于没有。奥巴马支持者、乔治亚州亚特兰大的冈萨雷斯就是出生在一个波多黎各裔家庭，她到南卡罗来来纳州来助选。她说，许多拉美裔人喜欢希拉里.克林顿，因为他们把她跟他的丈夫担任总统时的政绩联系起来。



"A lot of people in the Latino community just remember what the Clintons did in the 1990's, in terms of jobs and economic growth and things like that," said Maru Gonzalez. "I think that is why many of them are placing their support with the Clintons. I think a lot of them still do not know a lot about Barack Obama, but my hope is that once they do learn about Barack Obama they will see that he is the right choice."

她说：“许多拉美裔人忘不了克林顿在上个世纪90年代开创就业机会和发展经济等政绩。我想，那是许多人支持克林顿的原因。我认为他们许多人还不大了解奥巴马，但是我希望他们一旦了解了奥巴马，他们就会明白奥巴马是正确的人选。”



Gonzalez says she and other young Hispanics are backing Obama because they see him as the best option for the future and they are trying to convince others to do the same.

冈萨雷斯说，她和其他拉美裔年轻人支持奥巴马，因为他们认为奥巴马是未来的最佳选择，他们也在努力说服其他人也支持奥巴马。



"I have actually talked to a lot of Latinos in my community, my family and things like that," she said. "A lot of people in my family were previously 11 Hillary supporters and I have convinced them to join our side."



Hillary Clinton and former Senator John Edwards have their own appeals to youthful voters, but Clinton, in particular, has run a campaign that relies more on support from unions and traditional Democratic constituencies. She also has shown great strength in attracting votes from women. On February 5, voters in 22 states and American Samoa will have their chance to decide which of the candidates has the most appeal.