John Kerry believes in an America where hard work is rewarded. So instead of offering tax breaks to companies shipping jobs overseas, he'll offer them to companies creating jobs here at home. John Kerry believes in an America where all Americans can afford the same health coverage our politicians in Washington have for themselves. John Kerry believes in energy independence, so we aren't held hostage to the profits of oil companies or the sabotage of foreign oil fields. John Kerry believes in the constitutional freedoms that have made our country the envy of the world, and he will never sacrifice our basic liberties nor use faith as a wedge to divide us. And John Kerry believes that in a dangerous world, war must be an option, but it should never he the first option.
约翰·凯利坚信，在美国，付出就会有回报，因此，对于那些在本土创造就业机会的公司，他会在税收上给与优惠，而将工作机会输送到海外的公司则不会享受到如此待遇。他坚信，美国应该实现标准的医疗保险，对普通百姓和华盛顿的政治家都一视同仁。他坚信能源自主的重要性，因此我们不会再因石油公司对利润的追求，或对国外油田的破坏而遭致威胁。他坚信美国应该成为世人艳羡的国度，因为国民的自由受到宪法的保护。他永远都不会让大家的基本自由受到影响，更不会以信仰为借口，来制造分裂。他还坚信当今世界的确存在危险因素，战争在所难免，但战争永远不会成为解决争端的首选。
A while back, I met a young man named Shamus at the VFW Hall in East Moline, Illinois. He was a good-looking kid, six-two or six-three, clear-eyed, with an easy smile. He told me he'd joined the Marines and was heading to Iraq the following week. As I listened to him explain why he'd enlisted, his absolute faith in our country and its leaders, his devotion to duty and service, I thought this young man was all any of us might hope for in a child. But then I asked myself: Are we serving Shamus as well as he was serving us? I thought of more than 900 service men and women, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, friends and neighbors, who will not be returning to their hometowns. I thought of families I had met who were struggling to get by without a loved one's full income, or whose loved ones had returned with a limb missing or with nerves shattered, but who still lacked long-term health benefits because they were reservists. When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they're going, to care for their families while they're gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return, and to never ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of the world.
前不久，在伊利诺伊州东莫林市的外战老兵俱乐部里，我偶遇一个年轻人，他叫沙莫斯，身高足有2米，相貌英俊，目光清澈，笑容可掬。他说自己加入了海军陆战队, 一周后就将进驻伊拉克。当我听他讲述入伍的原因时，他讲到了对我们国家和领导人的绝对信赖，对军队的无上忠诚以及自身强烈的责任感，这让我感受到他身上具备的优良品质正是我们对子女的所有期待。然而，当我扪心自问：我们为他所做的一切，是否能与他的付出相当呢? 我想到这次战争中已有900多名军人战死沙场，他们也有自己的家人和邻友，也许已是为人父母，还有年迈的双亲，却再也无法回到这些关爱他们的人身边。我想到自己遇到的那些家庭，他们或是要应对亲人阵亡，收入锐减所来的经济窘境，或是要面对肢体残缺的家人复原归来，甚至精神崩溃，却因其预备役军人的身份而无法享受长期的健康补贴，生活变得举步维艰。当这些可爱的年轻人舍身踏上征程，我们责无旁贷地要确认做出出兵决定的所有数据和理由确凿无误；我们责无旁贷地要替他们照顾好家人，而当他们荣归故里时，要关照他们的生活；当决定要介入战争、保卫和平和赢得世界的尊重之时，我们责无旁贷地要派驻足够数量的军队，以确保战士能凯旋而归。
Now let me be clear. We have real enemies in the world. These enemies must be found. They must be pursued and they must be defeated. John Kerry knows this. And just as Lieutenant Kerry did not hesitate to risk his life to protect the men who served with him in Vietnam, President Kerry will not hesitate one moment to use our military might to keep America safe and secure. John Kerry believes in America. And he knows it's not enough for just some of us to prosper. For alongside our famous individualism, there's another ingredient in the American saga.
请允许我阐明下述观点：在世界上，确实有人与我们为敌，我们必须找到他们，并予以坚决打击，获取胜利。约翰?凯利深知这一点，正如身为上尉的他在越南战场上出生入死，保护自己的下属一样，若他身为总统，也同样会义无反顾地运用军队的力量确保国家的安全。他对美国充满信心，而且深知仅有部分公民实现生活的富足还远远不够，而这要仰仗与我们闻名于世的个人主义相伴的另一种元素，正是因为它们，美国史册才熠熠生辉。
A belief that we are connected as one people. If there's a child on the south side of Chicago who can't read, that matters to me, even if it's not my child. If there's a senior citizen somewhere who can't pay for her prescription and has to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it's not my grandmother. If there's an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties. It's that fundamental belief - I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper - that makes this country work. It's what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family. "E pluribus unum." Out of many, one.
这就是我们作为一个民族荣辱与共的信仰。假如，芝加哥南部的一个孩子无法读书识字，即便他与我非亲非故，我也会心怀忐忑。如果有位老人因无法支付高昂的医疗费用，不得不在治病和租房之间痛苦抉择，即便她与我素未谋面，我也会如坐针毡，。假如，一个阿拉伯裔的美国家庭未经律师辩护，或诉讼程序就遭受不公正待遇，同样会让我寝食难安。正是这个基本信仰让这个国家发展到今天：我们都是一家人，我们都是兄弟姐妹。只有这样我们才能实现个人的梦想，才能成为一个美利坚大家庭。独木不成林，单弦不成音。
Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America - there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.
当我们在这里聚会的时候，也有人正准备分裂我们，那些操纵舆论的人和制作负面宣传的人，他们投身没有原则和不择手段的政治。今晚，我需要对这些人讲得是，美国人没有所谓自由和保守之分，世间只存在一个美利坚合众国。更没有所谓美国白人黑人之分，拉丁裔和亚裔之分，有的只是美利坚合众国一国的国民。有博学家愿意将我们的国家分成红蓝两色，红色代表共和党，蓝色代表民主党。但我想说得是即便在民主党中，我们也都信奉万能的主，我们不喜欢联邦的机构在共和党中间对我们的藏书指指点点，我们在民主党中也有人执教少年棒球联盟，在共和党中也有同性恋朋友，有爱国人士支持伊拉克战争，也有爱国人士反对就伊出兵。我们都是一国之民，都效忠于伟大的星条旗，所有的人都热爱我们的祖国——美利坚合众国。
In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope? John Kerry calls on us to hope. John Edwards calls on us to hope. I'm not talking about blind optimism here - the almost willful ignorance that thinks unemployment will go away if we just don't talk about it, or the health care crisis will solve itself if we just ignore it. No, I'm talking about something more substantial. It's the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker's son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. The audacity of hope!
说到底，这才是本次选举的意义所在：我们所参与的政治应该是愤世嫉俗还是充满希望? 约翰?凯利号召我们要对未来满怀希望。这并不是说要盲目乐观。以为只要不谈论失业问题，这个问题就会自行消失；认为只要无视医疗危机的存在，它也会烟消云散。我所谈的是更为根本的问题。是因为存在希望，奴隶们围坐在火堆边，才会吟唱自由之歌；是因为存在希望才使得人们愿意远涉重洋，移民他乡；是因为希望，年轻的海军上尉才会在湄公河三角州勇敢的巡逻放哨，是因为希望，出身工人家庭的孩子才会敢于挑战自己的命运；是因为希望，我这个名字怪怪的瘦小子才相信美国这片热土上也有自己的容身之地。这就是无畏的希望。
In the end, that is God's greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation; the belief in things not seen; the belief that there are better days ahead. I believe we can give our middle class relief and provide working families with a road to opportunity. I believe we can provide jobs to the jobless, homes to the homeless, and reclaim young people in cities across America from violence and despair. I believe that as we stand on the crossroads of history, we can make the right choices, and meet the challenges that face us. America!
最后，感谢上苍赐予我们最好的礼物，也就是这个国家赖以生存的基石，因为我们相信最好的东西尚未出现，更好的日子就在明天，我相信我们可以为中产阶级减负，让工人家庭走上希望之路，我相信我们可以为无业者创造就业机会，为无家可归者带来可以遮风挡雨的屋顶，让美国城市中年轻人从暴力和绝望的阴影中走出来。我相信今天的我们就站在历史的十字街头，我们可以做出正确的选择，迎接面临的挑战。
Tonight, if you feel the same energy I do, the same urgency I do, the same passion I do, the same hopefulness I do - if we do what we must do, then I have no doubt that all across the country, from Florida to Oregon, from Washington to Maine, the people will rise up in November, and John Kerry will be sworn in as president, and John Edwards will be sworn in as vice president, and this country will reclaim its promise, and out of this long political darkness a brighter day will come. Thank you and God bless you.
今晚，如果你我感同身受，有同样的力量、同样的急迫感、同样的冲动和同样的希望；如果我们都能行动起来，那么我相信，从佛罗里达到俄勒冈，从华盛顿到缅因州，全国人民将会在11月积极行动起来，使得约翰?凯利、约翰?爱德华兹分别宣誓就任总统、副总统之职，而国家也将就此走出低谷、重振旗鼓。暗夜即将过去，黎明即将到来。谢谢大家，愿上帝保佑你们。