雙雄逐鹿……

After umpteen months of caucuses， by-elections， primaries， media speculation and mud-slinging， the American Presidential Nomination season is over. Both sides have elected their champion， and each nominee has picked the person they want running alongside them as their number two. It's a game of contrasts and one-upmanship…and the results are quite surprising.

經過數月的政黨會議、遞補選舉、初選、媒體猜測、言論攻擊，美國總統提名期已經結束。兩黨都已選出各自的總統候選人，兩位候選人也都挑選出自己的競選拍檔。這是一場二者只取其一的激烈競爭……結果令人十分驚訝。

One way to look at the upcoming Presidential elections (to be held on 4th November) is as a boxing match – though whether it's going to be an honourable battle between noble pugilists or a down-in-the-mud， bare-knuckle， no-holds barred ruck is yet to be seen.

從某種角度來看，這即將到來的總統大選（將于11月4日舉行）就是場拳擊賽——雖然這究竟會是一場尊貴的拳擊手之間的光榮之戰還是場殘酷的街頭混戰還有待分曉。

The measurements have been taken， the gauntlet has been thrown down， and Democrats and Republicans are ready to slug it out in the political arena. To help make sense of what’s going on， Bilingual Time would like to introduce the four combatants who， whether we like it or not， are going to be making the news for the next month:

衡量各自重力，接受挑戰，兩黨準備在政壇上激戰到底。為幫助大家知曉其中實情，《雙語時代》將介紹這四位戰士，不管我們喜歡不喜歡，這四個人都將成為下月新聞的主角。

In The Blue Corner…

藍方……

Barack Obama， Junior Senator for Illinois

巴拉克#8226;奧巴馬，伊利諾州資淺議員

What is there left to say that hasn't already been said about Barack Obama? If elected， he stands to be the USA's first African-American president and much has been made of his youth and relative inexperience in the world of American politics.

關于巴拉克#8226;奧巴馬的還有什么沒有提到呢？那就是，如果當選，他必將成為美國第一位非洲裔美國總統，一位美國政史上年輕、經驗相對欠缺的總統。

A graduate of both Harvard's Law School and Columbia University， Obama first broke onto the political scene in 2004 when he was elected to the Senate. Since then， nothing seems to be able to stop the ambitious young Senator: he announced his campaign for presidency in November 2007， and in August the Democrats confirmed him as their Presidential Nominee.

畢業于哈佛大學法學院及紐約哥倫比亞大學，奧巴馬在2004年選為參議員，首次進入政壇。從此，似乎沒什么可以阻擋這位雄心壯志的年輕議員。2007年11月奧巴馬宣布競選總統，今年8月民主黨提名他為總統候選人。

Coming from a mixed race background (his mother is from Wichita， Kansas， while his father is originally from Kenya) certainly hasn't hurt Obama's campaign any， and neither has his reputation as being one of the few politicians who intends to stick up for the common man. He has built his campaign on several key issues: withdrawal of troops from Iraq， energy dependency and national health care being among his top priorities.

奧巴馬的混血背景（母親來自肯薩斯州的威奇塔，父親來自肯尼亞本土）及他身為為平民尋求利益的少數政客之一的聲名絲毫沒有對他的競選產生負面影響。他高持幾個重大策略觀點展開競選，將這幾點列入優先范圍，分別為：撤出駐伊美軍、擺脫對中東的石油依賴及國民醫療保健。

With his wife Michelle and his two children at his side， Obama is a youthful， charismatic and inspiring figure with a bright political career ahead of him. The question is， will his inexperience trip him up? Or is a fresh new face exactly what America needs in the Oval Office?

有著妻子馬歇爾及兩個孩子的支持，奧巴馬展現出一個年輕有為、魅力超凡、激情洋溢且擁有光明政治前景的人物形象。