Obama Wins Racially-Divided Victory in Mississippi Primary

奥巴马再下一城克林顿望挫其锐气

　



Senator Barack Obama added another victory to his campaign for the Democratic nomination Tuesday, winning the southern state of Mississippi's primary. The 33 delegates at stake will be divided with opponent Senator Hillary Clinton because Democrats divide delegates proportionally according to the vote totals for each candidate. Obama owed his victory to a huge advantage among African Americans.

　

奥巴马参议员星期二在争取民主党提名的选战中又赢得了一次胜利，在南方密西西比州的初选中获胜。根据民主党的选举规则，他将和克林顿参议员按照得票比例来分摊密西西比州的33名代表名额。奥巴马这次胜利主要归功于当地非洲裔美国人的人口优势。

More than half the Democratic voters in Mississippi are black and around 90 percent of them voted for Barack Obama, the son of a father from Kenya and a white mother. White voters in the state tended to support Hillary Clinton. Many Democrats are troubled by this pattern.

　

密西西比州一半以上的民主党选民是非洲裔，他们当中有90%以上的人把选票投给了奥巴马。奥巴马的父亲是肯尼亚人，母亲是美国白人。这个州的白人选民大多拥护克林顿。许多民主党人对这一模式感到困扰。

Obama has based his campaign on appealing across racial lines. He won the first contest of this election year on January 3 in Iowa, a state that is around 90 percent white. But since then blacks in every primary or caucus have tended to vote for Obama in large numbers. Less than six months ago, polls showed strong support in the black community for Hillary Clinton, based partially on the accomplishments of her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

　

奥巴马的竞选一直以跨越种族界线的为基础。他在这个大选年的第一次胜利1月3号在爱奥华州赢得，那里的白人人口占了大约90%。但是从那时起，在每一场初选或者党团基层会议中，大批黑人都倾向于选奥巴马。而不到6个月前的民调结果还显示，黑人选民大力支持克林顿，这部分归功于她的丈夫前总统克林顿的政绩。

Obama has been able to rally support from young voters from all ethnic and racial groups, but older white voters have voted in larger numbers for Clinton. She also has a distinct advantage with women voters.

　

奥巴马一贯能赢得不同族裔、不同人种的年轻选民的支持，但是很多较年长的白种选民选择了克林顿。克林顿在妇女选民中也占显著优势。

Clinton is looking for big wins in other states holding contests in the weeks ahead, including such large states as Pennsylvania, Indiana and North Carolina. Her strength with working class voters and women is expected to help her in those states. Since the percentage of black voters in these states is much lower than it is in a state like Mississippi, Obama will need to reinforce his efforts to draw white voters to support him.

　

克林顿目前着眼于在未来几星期在其它几个州的角逐中取得重大胜利，如在宾夕法尼亚、印第安纳和北卡罗来纳等大州。预计她在工人阶层和妇女选民中的影响力将有助于她在那些州获胜。这些州的黑人选民比例要比密西西比这样的州低很多，所以奥巴马必须加倍努力争取白人选民的支持。

One clear advantage Obama enjoys is a more than 100-delegate lead over Clinton, giving him the momentum of a frontrunner. Clinton, on the other hand, hopes her attacks on what she describes as Obama's inexperience will blunt his drive and give her a chance to regain momentum.

　

奥巴马目前的明显优势是他拥有的代表人数比克林顿多100多名，使他具有领先者的势头。而另一方面，克林顿希望自己针对奥巴马的攻势，批评奥巴马缺乏经验，能挫败奥巴马的锐气，让自己重新领先。

Democratic Party leaders view all of this with growing concern, however, since a prolonged contest between these two candidates delays efforts to prepare for the general election and provides Republicans with ammunition to use against the eventual nominee.

　

民主党领袖正忧心忡忡地关注这一局面，因为两名候选人之间旷日持久的选战会延误为大选作准备，还为共和党人提供机会来攻击最终赢得总统候选人提名的那位民主党人。

Senator John McCain clinched the Republican nomination after winning here in Texas and in three other states on March 4 and has been able to devote time since then to fundraising and preparations for the November election.

　

麦凯恩参议员3月4号在德克萨斯州和另外3个州获胜后，基本确认将赢得共和党提名，从此他便能把全部时间投入募款以及为11月的大选作准备等方面。

Complicating the Democratic race further is the possibility that contests in Florida and Michigan may be repeated. Party officials had taken delegates away from those states after they violated party rules by moving their primaries up on the calendar.

　

使得民主党选情进一步复杂化的是佛罗里达和密西根这两个州的初选可能重新进行。民主党曾经剥夺了这两个州的代表资格，因为他们违反党内规则提前举行初选。

The governors of those states are now demanding that their citizens be represented, so both states are planning to re-do their contests in June. But even after those contests, it is likely that neither candidate will have the 2,025 delegates needed to win the nomination, so the race could continue right up to the national Democratic convention in Denver in late August.

　

这两个州的州长正要求本州重获代表资格，所以两州可能计划在6月重新举行初选。但是即使在那两场选战后，两名候选人很可能仍然不能得到赢得提名所需的2千零25名代表的票数，所以这场选战会可能会一直继续到8月下旬在丹佛举行的全国民主党大会才见分晓。