Presidential Debates Often Pivotal in US Election Campaigns
美国总统候选人辩论的历史和作用

　 
On Friday, presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain are scheduled to hold the first of three debates ahead of November's election. Presidential debates have often played a crucial role in U.S. election campaigns in the past.

美国总统候选人奥巴马和麦凯恩将在11月美国总统大选前进行3场辩论。在过去的美国竞选活动中，总统候选人辩论通常起到至关重要的作用。

The first televised presidential debate was held during the election campaign of 1960.

美国历史上第一场通过电视播出的总统辩论是在1960年的总统选举中。

"The candidates need no introduction," said the debate moderator Howard K. Smith. "The Republican candidate is Vice President Richard M. Nixon and the Democratic candidate is Senator John F. Kennedy."

辩论主持人史密斯说：“不用我介绍，大家都认识这两位候选人。共和党的候选人是美国副总统尼克松，民主党候选人是肯尼迪参议员。”

Kennedy's youthful appearance helped him on television. Nixon suffered from a cold and bad makeup.

肯尼迪年青的外表使他在电视上更有吸引力。而尼克松由于死板而糟糕的化妆而吃了亏。

"I think in the final analysis, it depends on what we do here. I think it is time America started moving again," Kennedy said.

肯尼迪说：“我认为，情况最终取决于我们在这里采取的行动。美国再次行动起来的时间到了。”

"There is no question but that we cannot discuss our internal affairs in the United States without recognizing that they have a tremendous bearing on our international position," said Nixon.

尼克松说：“这是当然。但是，我们不能只谈美国国内事务而不意识到这些事务对我们的国际地位有重大影响。”

Those who watched the debates on television generally thought Kennedy was the winner. Many of those who listened on radio gave the edge to Nixon.

那些通过电视收看辩论的人通常认为肯尼迪赢得了辩论。而许多通过收音机收听辩论的人觉得尼克松占了上风。

Kennedy narrowly won the election that year. And even though Nixon eventually won two presidential elections in 1968 and 1972, he never took part in another presidential debate.

最终，肯尼迪以微弱的优势赢得了1960年的选举。虽然尼克松最终在1968和1972年两次赢得总统选举，但是他再也没有参加过任何一场总统候选人辩论。

In the 1976 election campaign, incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford trailed badly in the polls for much of the year behind his Democratic challenger, Jimmy Carter.

在1976年的竞选中，当时的总统、共和党人福特一度在民意调查中远远落后于他的民主党竞争对手卡特。

Ford nearly came back to win the election that year, but stumbled in one of his debates with Carter when he tried to argue that Eastern Europe was not controlled by the Soviet Union.

不过，福特后来逆转形势，几乎赢得了选举。可他在和卡特的一次辩论中因为试图争辩苏联没有控制东欧地区而导致了选举的失利。

"There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under a Ford administration," he said.

福特说：“东欧不在苏联的统治之下，我的政府也不会允许这种统治在将来发生。”

While much attention is paid to what is said in the debates, they can also be won or lost based on how the candidates speak and even their non-verbal body language.

In the 1992 debates with Democrat Bill Clinton and Independent candidate Ross Perot, then President George H. W. Bush appeared bored with the discussion and at one point was caught on camera looking at his watch.

In 2000, Democrat Al Gore let out a loud sigh while his opponent, then Texas Governor George W. Bush, was answering a question.

Most of the time, presidential debates feature the candidates repeating the same policy talking points they have uttered over and over again on the campaign trail.

在大多数情况下，总统候选人在辩论中不过是重复谈论那些他们在选举活动中已经说过多次的政策论点。

But there are moments when one candidate or another is able to crystallize for voters what is at stake in the election.

不过，也间或有些候选人能够在辩论中向选民们简明扼要地说明选举所关涉的利益。

Such a moment came in a 1980 debate when Republican Ronald Reagan took on President Jimmy Carter.

比如，1980年共和党人里根和卡特总统的辩论。

"Next Tuesday, all of you will go to the polls and stand there in the polling place and make a decision," he said. "I think when you make that decision, it might be well if you ask yourself, 'Are you better off than you were four years ago?'"

里根说：“下星期二，你们所有人都将去投票站并作出一个决定。我想，当你们作出这个决定时，你们应当问自己‘目前的状况是否比四年前要好？’”

Political analyst Norman Ornstein says that moment proved crucial for Reagan as he tried to convince voters that he was up to the job of being president.

"And it wasn't really until we had that debate, just barely 10 days before the election, where Reagan went head-to-head in that direct comparison with Carter and not only reframed the election, as in 'Are you better off now than you were four years ago?' But he also showed that he was anything but some crazy man and that he was a reasonable person who could stand toe-to-toe with the President of the United States and more than hold his own that we saw the poll numbers change pretty dramatically over the closing days of the campaign," he said.

Reagan is also remembered for his humor in presidential debates. After a poor performance in his first debate in his 1984 bid for re-election, Reagan chose to make fun of his age during his second debate with Democrat Walter Mondale.

里根还因为在总统辩论中表现出的幽默感而给人们留下了深刻的印象。他在1984年寻求连任，但是在第一场辩论中表现欠佳，于是他决定在和民主党对手蒙代尔的第二场辩论中用自己的年龄开玩笑。

"I will not make age an issue in this campaign," he said. "I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience."

里根说：“我不会使年龄成为这次选举讨论的话题。我不会出于政治目的挖苦我对手的年青和缺乏经验。”

Mondale laughed along with the audience.

这句话让蒙代尔和观众们都笑了。

After the debate, Mondale told his wife that he was almost certain that he was going to lose the election that year. He was right. Reagan went on to a landslide re-election victory.

在那场辩论之后，蒙代尔对他的妻子说，他几乎可以肯定自己将输掉选举。他说对了。里根以压倒性的优势成功连任。