America’s election-Up in the air
美国大选——悬而未决
Jan 10th 2008
From The Economist print edition
America wants change; it just can’t work out what sort of change
美国希望改变，但问题在于明确需要什么样的改变。
IF A week is famously a long time in British politics, five days can be an eternity in America. On January 3rd Barack Obama defeated Hillary Clinton by roughly 17,000 votes, out of around 220,000 cast, in Iowa’s Democratic caucus at the start of the presidential nominating season. It was the vote that launched a thousand editorials: the charismatic young black senator was compared to Jack Kennedy, Martin Luther King and even Ronald Reagan. France’s Libération hailed the man who “will restore America’s image in the world”. The nomination, not to mention the presidency, seemed Mr Obama’s not by election but by global acclamation.
在英国政治中，如果说一周的时间就能够因为其旷日持久而变得著名；那么在美国，五天就已经可以说成是永恒了。1月3 日在衣阿华（Lowa）举行的民主党候选人选拔会议中，Obama在总数为220000张选票中以 17000张的优势在总统提名选季开端时刻击败了希拉里克林顿。此次投票结果引发了数千篇社论，将这个魅力十足的青年黑人议员与杰克肯尼迪、马丁路得金，甚至是里根相提并论。法国自由报以”有可能重新树立美国国际形象”的标题盛赞此人。抛开总统任职不提，Obama此次获得的竞选提名对他而言似乎意味着全球的赞赏。