IOWA CAUCUS NIGHT 愛荷華州之夜：盡管奧巴馬已經當了一屆總統，再回去回顧奧巴馬當年的演講依然聽得熱血沸騰，一個成功的演講家，懂得如何讓自己被大家信任和支持，奧巴馬能獲勝的最重要的原因就是這充滿激情的演講，中國選秀節目一拉票就煽情，不會煽情就跟奧巴馬學習，沒有人流同情的眼淚，有的只是熱血澎湃和激動。這篇演講被收錄在胡敏的《跟奧巴馬學英語》的第二章。

2008年1月3日，愛荷華州首府得梅因市

January 3, 2008 | Des Moines, Iowa

Thank you, Iowa.
感謝愛荷華的公民們！

You know, they said this day would never come.
有人說這一天永遠不會到來。

They said our sights were set too high.
有人說我們好高騖遠。

They said this country was too divided; too disillusioned to ever come together around a common purpose.
有人說人民異見紛呈、失望透頂，不可能再為了一個共同的目標而眾志成城。

But on this January night—at this defining moment in history—you have done what the cynics said we couldn’t do. You have done what the state of New Hampshire can do in five days. You have done what America can do in this new year, 2008. In lines that stretched around schools and churches; in small towns and big cities; you came together as Democrats, Republicans, and independents to stand up and say that we are one nation; we are one people; and our time for change has come.
然而，在這個1月的夜晚 在這個決定性的歷史時刻 你們完成了那些憤世嫉俗者斷言無法完成的使命。5天后新罕布什爾州也將完成同樣的壯舉。你們已經完成了美國在新的2008年可以完成的任務。在學校和教堂周圍蜿蜒排起的長龍中，在小城鎮和大城市，你們 民主黨人、共和黨人和獨立派人士 走到一起，振臂高呼：我們是一個國家，我們是一個民族，變革的時代已經到來。

You said the time has come to move beyond the bitterness and pettiness and anger that’s consumed Washington; to end the political strategy that’s been all about division and instead make it about addition—to build a coalition for change that stretches through Red states and Blue states . Because that’s how we’ll win in November, and that’s how we’ll finally meet the challenges that we face as a nation.
你們說過，我們行動的時機已經到來：超越各種怨恨、瑣碎和憤怒，它們已將華盛頓的能量消耗殆盡；終結一切有關分裂的政治決策，并以聯合取而代之 在 紅州 和 藍州 建立變革聯盟。因為這才是我們在11月贏得大選的方式，是我們作為一個團結一致的民族應對挑戰的方式。

We are choosing hope over fear . We’re choosing unity over division and sending a powerful message that change is coming to America.
我們選擇希望，拒絕恐懼。我們選擇團結，拒絕分裂。我們傳達著一個有強有力的信息：美國亟待變革！

You said the time has come to tell the lobbyists who think their money and their influence speak louder than our voices that they don’t own this government, we do; and we are here to take it back.
你們說過，政治說客自以為他們的金錢和影響力比公共輿論威力更大，是時候了，告訴他們政府并非他們所有，而是我們大家的；我們要把它收回。

The time has come for a President who will be honest about the choices and the challenges we face; who will listen to you and learn from you even when we disagree; who won’t just tell you what you want to hear, but what you need to know. And in New Hampshire, if you give me the same chance that Iowa did tonight, I will be that President for America.
此刻，人民需要這樣的總統：他會坦誠地面對機遇與挑戰，即使跟民眾意見相左，也會傾聽并了解人民的想法；他不僅要說人民愿意聽到的話，更要告知人民需要了解的信息。如果新罕布什爾州也給我今晚愛荷華州給我的機會，我將成為那樣的一位美國總統。

Thank you.
謝謝！

I’ll be a President who finally makes health care affordable and available to every single American the same way I expanded health care in Illinois—by—by bringing Democrats and Republicans together to get the job done.
我將會是這樣一位總統：讓每位美國公民都能看上病、看得起病，正如我在伊利諾伊州推廣醫療保健一樣 通過民主黨人和共和黨人的攜手合作實現這一目標。

I’ll be a President who ends the tax breaks for companies that ship our jobs overseas and put a middle-class tax cut into the pockets of the working Americans who deserve it.
我將會是這樣一位總統：終止將工作機會轉向海外的企業所享受的減稅待遇，并將中產階層的減稅政策同樣用于美國勞工階層。

I’ll be a President who harnesses the ingenuity of farmers and scientists and entrepreneurs to free this nation from the tyranny of oil once and for all .
我將會是這樣一位總統：發揮農場主、科學家們的創造力，使我們國家永遠擺脫石油暴政。

And I’ll be a President who ends this war in Iraq and finally brings our troops home; who restores our moral standing; who understands that 9/11 is not a way to scare up votes, but a challenge that should unite America and the world against the common threats of the twenty-first century; common threats of terrorism and nuclear weapons; climate change and poverty; genocide and disease.
我將會是這樣一位總統：我要結束伊拉克戰爭，讓我們的軍隊返鄉；重建我們的道義立場；我懂得 9·11 事件并非騙取選票的借口，而是一個挑戰，使美國和世界聯合起來應對21世紀世界面臨的共同威脅 恐怖主義和核武器、氣候變化和貧困問題、種族屠殺和各種疾病。

Tonight, we are one step closer to that vision of America because of what you did here in Iowa. And so I’d especially like to thank the organizers and the precinct captains; the volunteers and the staff who made this all possible.
今晚，正因為愛荷華人民的選擇，我們向那樣的美國藍圖又邁進了一步。在此，我要特別感謝（選舉的）組織者以及各個投票站的組織者、志愿者和工作人員，是你們讓一切變為可能。

And while I’m at it, on thank-yous , I think it makes sense for me to thank the love of my life, the rock of the Obama family, the closer on the campaign trail —give it up for Michelle Obama .
當我站在此地致謝時，我想有必要感謝我一生的摯愛、我們一家人的中堅、我競選旅途的堅強后盾 米歇爾·奧巴馬。

I know you didn’t do this for me. You did this . . . you did this because you believed so deeply in the most American of ideas—that in the face of impossible odds, people who love this country can change it.
我知道你們做這一切并不是為了我。你們這樣做是因為你們堅信一個美國信念 無論條件多么艱苦，熱愛美國的人民是可以改變它的。

I know this—I know this because while I may be standing here tonight, I’ll never forget that my journey began on the streets of Chicago doing what so many of you have done for this campaign and all the campaigns here in Iowa— organizing, and working, and fighting to make people’s lives just a little bit better.
我明白這一點，因為我今晚站在這里，我將永遠不會忘記我的征途始于芝加哥街頭，跟你們一樣為這次競選以及在愛荷華進行的所有競選做的準備工作 組織、工作以及為改善人民生活而奮斗。

I know how hard it is. It comes with little sleep, little pay, and a lot of sacrifice. There are days of disappointment, but sometimes, just sometimes, there are nights like this—a night . . . a night that, years from now, when we’ve made the changes we believe in; when more families can afford to see a doctor; when our children—when Malia and Sasha and your children—inherit a planet that’s a little cleaner and safer, when the world sees America differently, and America sees itself as a nation less divided and more united; you’ll be able to look back with pride and say that this was the moment when it all began.
我深知這條道路的艱辛，伴之而來的是不足的睡眠、微薄的薪酬和大量的犧牲。這條道路上難免會出現令人失望的時刻，但是有時，僅僅是有時，也會呈現像今晚這樣的情景 這樣一個夜晚 這樣一個我們數年后回顧往事時會自豪地說那個更好的美國就是從此刻開始的夜晚。在數年后的美國，我們會實現我們堅信不疑的變革；更多的家庭能看得起病；我們的子女，（我的女兒）瑪利亞、莎拉和你們的孩子將生活在一個更加潔凈和安全的星球上；世界將對美國另眼相看，而美國也將視己為一個更少分歧、更多團結的國度。

This was the moment when the improbable beat what Washington always said was inevitable.
此刻，一個幾無可能的奇跡注定要擊敗華盛頓的老生常談。

This was the moment when we tore down barriers that have divided us for too long—when we rallied people of all parties and ages to a common cause; when we finally gave Americans who’d never participated in politics a reason to stand up and to do so.
此刻，我們拆除將我們分離過久的藩籬 讓不同黨派、不同年齡的人們為了一個共同事業而聯合起來，最終給那些從未涉政的美國人以參與政治的理由。

This was the moment when we finally beat back the politics of fear, and doubt, and cynicism ; the politics where we tear each other down instead of lifting this country up. This was the moment.
此刻，我們最終擊退恐懼、疑慮和犬儒主義政治，擊退了相互傾軋而非強國興邦的政治。現在就是這樣的時刻。

Years from now, you’ll look back and you’ll say that this was the moment—this was the place—where America remembered what it means to hope.
數年后，遙想往事，你們會說就在此刻、此地 美國人民曾經記起希望意味著什么。

For many months, we’ve been teased , even derided , for talking about hope.
幾個月以來，我們因為談論希望而遭到挖苦，甚至嘲弄。

But we always knew that hope is not blind optimism. It’s not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. It’s not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary , that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it.
但我們一直都清楚，希望并非盲目的樂觀主義。希望不是忽視未來任務的艱巨或橫亙在我們前進道路上的障礙。希望不是置身事外或逃避斗爭。希望是我們心底堅守的一種信念：不管遭遇多少艱難險阻，只要我們有勇氣去爭取、去奮斗、去拼搏，更美好的明天就會等待著我們。

Hope is what I saw in the eyes of the young woman in Cedar Rapids who works the night shift after a full day of college and still can’t afford health care for a sister who’s ill; a young woman who still believes that this country will give her the chance to live out her dreams.
我從一個來自錫達拉皮茲城的年輕女士的眼中看到了希望：她白天全天在大學上課，晚上加夜班，雖然仍負擔不起生病的妹妹的醫療費，但她相信這個國家會為她提供實現夢想的機會。

Hope is what I heard in the voice of the New Hampshire woman who told me that she hasn’t been able to breathe since her nephew left for Iraq; who still goes to bed each night praying for his safe return.
我從一個來自新罕布什爾州的婦女的聲音中聽到了希望：她告訴我自從她的侄子奔赴伊拉克戰場，她就一直感到忐忑不安，但是她每晚睡覺前都要為侄子的安全歸來祈禱。

Hope is what led a band of colonists to rise up against an empire; what led the greatest of generations to free a continent and heal a nation; what led young women and young men to sit at lunch counters and brave fire hoses and march through Selma and Montgomery for freedom’s cause.
希望引領一群殖民者揭竿而起反對一個帝國；希望引領我們偉大的祖先解放了一個大陸，復活了一個民族；希望引領青年男女為了自由圍坐在餐桌旁，引領他們勇敢地面對高壓水龍，引領他們穿越（亞拉巴馬州的）塞爾瑪和蒙哥馬利。
Hope . . . hope . . . is what led me here today—with a father from Kenya ; a mother from Kansas ; and a story that could only happen in the United States of America. Hope is the bedrock of this nation; the belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us ; by all those men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is; who have the courage to remake the world as it should be.

希望是希望引領我今天來到這里。我的父親來自肯尼亞，母親來自堪薩斯，這樣的故事只可能發生在美利堅合眾國。希望是美利堅民族的基石，希望是我們的信仰：我們的命運不是注定的，而是由我們自己去書寫，由那些不滿于現狀的男男女女們去書寫，他們有勇氣將這個世界重塑成一個理想的家園。

That is what we started here in Iowa, and that is the message we can now carry to New Hampshire and beyond; the same message we had when we were up and when we were down ; the one that can change this country brick by brick , block by block, calloused hand by calloused hand—that, together, ordinary people can do extraordinary things; because we are not a collection of Red states and Blue states, we are the United States of America; and at this moment, in this election, we are ready to believe again. Thank you, Iowa.
這就是我們在愛荷華州開始的行動，這也是我們現在要向新罕布什爾州和其他各州傳達的信息。無論順利還是失意，我們都不曾將其忘卻。這個信息可以幫助我們一磚一瓦、不辭艱辛地去改變這個國家 團結起來，凡人也能鑄就宏圖偉業；因為我們不是 紅州 或 藍州 的對立陣營，我們是美利堅合眾國。在此刻，在這次選舉中，我們再次將信念點燃。謝謝，愛荷華。 

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