跟奥巴马学英语演讲：2008新罕布什尔州初选之夜
New Hampshire Primary Night Night 奥巴马新罕布什尔州初选之夜演讲：奥巴马在这一夜的演讲中做了许多承诺，但是4年已经过去了，我们再回过头看这篇演讲，有多少承诺已经兑现？
January 8, 2008 | Nashua, New Hampshire
2008年1月8日，新罕布什尔州纳舒厄市
I want to congratulate Senator Clinton on a hard-fought victory here in New Hampshire.
首先，我要向克林顿参议员在新罕布什尔州取得这场来之不易的胜利表示祝贺。
A few weeks ago, no one imagined that we’d have accomplished what we did here tonight. For most of this campaign, we were far behind, and we always knew our climb would be steep.
几周前，没有人能预想到我们今夜在此所取得的成就。这次竞选的大多数时候，我们总是远远落在后头，并深知道路的艰难。
But in record numbers, you came out and spoke up for change. And with your voices and your votes, you made it clear that at this moment—in this election—there is something happening in America.
但是，你们挺身而出为变革大声疾呼，规模创下历史之最。你们通过自己的声音和选票昭示众人，此刻-在本次选举中-一些事情正在美利坚悄然发生。
There is something happening when men and women in Des Moines and Davenport , in Lebanon and Concord , come out in the snows of January to wait in lines that stretch block after block because they believe in what this country can be.
它发生在得梅因、达文波特、莱巴文赖和康科德这些地区的男男女女中，他们顶着1月的飘雪在蜿蜒于一个又一个街区之间的队伍里静候投票，因为他们对这个国家的未来深信不疑。
There is something happening when Americans who are young in age and in spirit—who have never before participated in politics—turn out in numbers we’ve never seen because they know in their hearts that this time must be different.
它发生在朝气蓬勃的美国年轻人中，他们之前从未参与过政治生活，但这次却以规模空前的人数现身投票点，因为他们心中明白，这次选举一定非同寻常。
There is something happening when people vote not just for the party they belong to but the hopes they hold in common—that whether we are rich or poor, black or white, Latino or Asian; whether we hail from Iowa or New Hampshire, Nevada , or South Carolina , we are ready to take this country in a fundamentally new direction. That is what’s happening in America right now. Change is what’s happening in America.
它发生在人们不只是为各自所属的党派，而是为他们共同拥有的希望投出一票时-无论贫富，无论肤色，无论族裔，无论我们是来自爱荷华、新罕布什尔、内华达还是南卡罗来纳，为了将这个国家领入一个全新的发展方向，我们整装待发。这就是美国正在发生的点点滴滴；变革正在美国发生。
You can be the new majority who can lead this nation out of a long political darkness—Democrats , independents, and Republicans who are tired of the division and distraction that have clouded Washington; who know that we can disagree without being disagreeable; who understand that if we mobilize our voices to challenge the money and influence that’s stood in our way and challenge ourselves to reach for something better, there’s no problem we can’t solve—no destiny we cannot fulfill.
你可以成为多数人中新成员，领导这个国家走出一场漫长的政治黑暗-其中有民主党人、共和党人以及独立派人士，他们厌倦了充斥着华盛顿的各种分歧和纷繁复杂的问题；他们知道我们可以做到和而不同；他们也深知，若能发动舆论的力量去对抗横在我们面前的钱权势力，去激励我们自身寻求更加美好的事物，那么我们便没有解决不了的问题-也没有实现不了的未来。
Our new American majority can end the outrage of unaffordable, unavailable health care in our time. We can bring doctors and patients, workers and businesses, Democrats and Republicans together; and we can tell the drug and insurance industry that while they’ll get a seat at the table, they don’t get to buy every chair. Not this time. Not now.
我们这群新的大多数人能够平息今人因负担不起或无法获得医保而产生的怒火。我们可以让医生和病人、员工和企业、民主党人和共和党人走到一起；我们还可以向医药行业和保险行业明确一点：你们能够拥有一席之位，但不能将每个座位都据为己有。这一次不可以。现在不可以。
Our new majority can end the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas and put a middle-class tax cut into the pockets of the working Americans who deserve it.
我们这群新的大多数人能终止对于将工作机会转向海外的公司实施的税收优惠政策，并将中产阶层的减税政策同样适用于美国劳工阶层。
We can stop sending our children to schools with corridors of shame and start putting them on a pathway to success. We can stop talking about how great teachers are and start rewarding them for their greatness. We can do this with our new majority.
我们能够让孩子们不再去那种破旧不堪的学校上学，我们要为他们未来的成功铺砖引路。我们能够不再只将教师的伟大挂在嘴边，而开始对他们的崇高给予奖赏。有了我们新的大多数人，我们就可以做到这一切。
We can harness the ingenuity of farmers and scientists, citizens and entrepreneurs , to free this nation from the tyranny of oil and save our planet from a point of no return .
我们可以发挥农民和科学家、市民和企业家的聪明才智，将这个国家从对石油的严重依赖中解救出来，并拯救我们这颗星球于万劫不复之地。
And when I am President, we will end this war in Iraq and bring our troops home; we will finish the job against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan ; we will care for our veterans; we will restore our moral standing in the world; and we will never use 9/11 as a way to scare up votes, because it is not a tactic to win an election, it is a challenge that should unite America and the world against the common threats of the twenty-first century: terrorism and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease.
若我成功当选，我们便会结束伊拉克战争，让我们的军队返回家乡；我们会完成在阿富汗进行的针对“基地”组织的行动；我们会对退伍军人给予关爱；我们会重建我们在世界各国的道义立场。我们不会用“9·11”恐怖主义袭击作为争取选票的手段，因为它不是一种赢得竞选的战略，而是一次挑战，这个挑战应将美国和世界各国团结起来，并肩应对21世纪的共同威胁：恐怖主义和核武器、气候变化和贫穷问题、种族屠杀和各种疾病。
All of the candidates in this race share these goals. All have good ideas. And all are patriots who serve this country honorably.
所有参加本次竞选的候选人均有上述目标，他们都有好的政见，都是光荣服务于这个国家的爱国志士。
But the reason our campaign has always been different is because it’s not just about what I will do as President, it’s also about what you, the people who love this country, can do to change it.
然而，我们的竞选活动之所以总是与众不同，是因为它不仅仅关系到我作为总统将采取怎样的措施，它还关系到你们-深爱着这个国家的人们，能够为这个国家的变革做出贡献。
That’s why tonight belongs to you. It belongs to the organizers and the volunteers and the staff who believed in our improbable journey and rallied so many others to join.
这也是为何今晚属于你们，属于活动的所有组织者、志愿者和工作人员。你们对我们这段令人难以置信的竞选之旅寄予了厚望，并召集了众多人员参与其中。
We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change.
我们知道前方的斗争会很漫长，但请永远记住，不管这条路上有怎样的艰难险阻，没有什么力量能够阻挡千千万万民众祈求变革的呼声。
We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come. We’ve been asked to pause for a reality check. We’ve been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.
愤世嫉俗者们异口同声地断言我们做不到，在未来几个星期里他们的气焰会更嚣张、更猖狂。有声音要求我们识实务地停下脚步，也有声音警告我们不要让这个国家的人民怀有虚幻的期待。
But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we’ve been told that we’re not ready, or that we shouldn’t try, or that we can’t, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people.
然而，在美国这个奇迹般的故事里，从未有过任何虚幻的期待。因为当我们直面各种险阻时，当我们被告知尚未准备就绪、不该尝试或者做不到时，一代又一代的美国人怀着凝聚了整个民族精神的简单信念给予了答复。
Yes we can.
是的，我们能做到！
It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.
这是写进了建国文件、宣告了一个国家命运的信念。
Yes we can.
是的，我们能做到！
It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom through the darkest of nights.
这是奴隶和废奴主义者们穿过漆黑的夜幕，开辟自由之路时的低声耳语。
Yes we can.
是的，我们能做到！
It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.
这是来自遥远海岸的移民大军开辟道路以及拓荒者们向西部蛮荒之地开疆辟土的歌声。
Yes we can.
是的，我们能做到！
It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballot; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land .
这是发自具有组织性的劳动者的呐喊，这是来自拥有投票权的妇女的呼唤，这是选择月球作为我们新边疆的总统的号召，这是带领我们攀上山顶、为我们指引“应许之地”的国王的命令。
Yes we can to justice and equality. Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity. Yes we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this world. Yes we can.
是的，我们能够做到正义和平等！我们能够获得机会和繁荣！我们能够治愈这个国家的痼疾！我们能够纠正这个世界的偏差！是的，我们能做到！
And so tomorrow, as we take this campaign south and west, as we learn that the struggles of the textile worker in Spartanburg are not so different than the plight of the dishwasher in Las Vegas ; that the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA ; we will remember that there is something happening in America: that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in America’s story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea.
那么明天，随着我们竞选运动在南部和西部的开展，当我们意识到斯巴达堡纺织工人的挣扎与拉斯韦加斯洗碗工人的困境并没有多大区别，在狄龙区摇摇欲坠的学校里上学的小女孩有着和在洛杉矶街道上学习的男孩一样的希望，我们将谨记正在美国发生的一些事情：我们并非如我们政治所表明的那样存在分歧；我们是一个民族；我们是一个国家；我们将一道用三个词（Yes. We. Can.）谱写美国历史的下一个伟大篇章，这三个词将响彻全国，深入人心。
是的，我们能做到！
Yes. We. Can.