I spent the fall crisscrossing the country on a campaign marathon. I urged people to vote as if their lives depended on it.
我整个秋天都在为马拉松式的总统竞选而跑遍全国各地。我劝人们去投票,好像他们生活就靠那张投票了似的。
I poured my heart into Representative Charles Schumer's campaign to defeat New York Senator AI D'Amato. An intelligent and doggedly progressive Democrat, Chuck Schumer was one of Bill's most steadfast supporters. D'Amato had chaired the Whitewater hearings in the Senate, where he had paraded blameless White House secretaries, ushers and a baby-sitter in front of the committee, finding nothing but saddling them with legal bills. D'Amato was vulnerable to Schumer's vigorous challenge.
为了能够打败来自纽约的参议员阿尔·德·阿马托,我全身心投入代表查尔斯·舒默的竞选活动。聪明而且有点顽固激进的民主党人查尔斯·舒默是比尔最坚定的支持者之一。德·阿马托曾在参议院主持“白水事件”的听证会,会上,他当着委员会成员的面,责难无辜的白宫秘书们,招待员们和一个保姆,结果什么都没问出,反而扔给了那些人法律的负担。这次面对舒默的有力挑战,德·阿马托很受打击。
As voting day approached, the GOP launched a massive ad campaign that focused on the scandal. The scheme was unsuccessful. Voters seemed to be more disgusted with Republican political tactics than with the President's behavior.
随着投票日地临近,共和党投放了大量的针对比尔“丑闻”的竞选广告,可是这招并没有奏效,似乎相对于总统的行为来说,选民们对于共和党的这招政治策略更加反感。
On Election Day, the exit polls started coming in, and Bill was in an upbeat mood. As always, I was too nervous to watch the returns. So I invited Maggie and Chery Mills, an accomplished lawyer in the counsel's office, to join me in the movie theater for a screening of Oprah Winfrey's new film of the Toni Morrison novel Beloved. When we emerged later that night there was good news: The vote was historic. Democrats gained 5 seats in the House and narrowed the Republican margin: It was now 223 to 211. The Senate held steady at 55 Republicans to 45 Democrats. Barbara Boxer won reelection to the Senate, and the best news of the night was that Chuck Schumer beat Al D'Amato in New York.
选举日那天,出口民调也随之进行,比尔很乐观。和往常一样,我会紧张到都不敢看一眼统计表。所以,我邀请了麦琪和谢丽尔·米尔斯,一位在律师办公室里颇有成就的律师,让她们陪我一起去电影院看改编自托妮·莫里森的小说,由奥普拉·温弗瑞主演的新电影《真爱》。那晚晚些的时候,我们从影院回来听到了一些好消息:投票结果简直是历史性的,民主党在众议院中获得了五个席位,减小了共和党的比例:现在是223个席位对211个席位。参议院稳定在55个共和党人对45个民主党。芭芭拉·柏克瑟在重选中赢得了联邦参议员席位。那晚最好的消息就是查尔斯·舒默在纽约打败了阿尔·德·阿马托。