Voters in the southern state of Mississippi are going to the polls in that state's Democratic Party presidential primary. Opinion polls put Senator Barack Obama in first place, but, Senator Hillary Clinton is likely to almost evenly split the state's 33 delegates.

美國南方的密西西比州星期二舉行民主黨總統初選。民意調查顯示，奧巴馬參議員在這個州領先。不過，克林頓參議員可能幾乎同奧巴馬平分這個州的33張黨代表票。

More than half of Mississippi's Democratic voters are African-Americans, a segment of the voting population that has favored Barack Obama in past contests and they are expected to help him win Tuesday's primary as well. Obama, whose father was from Kenya and whose mother was white, is likely to win more than half the votes, but Hillary Clinton will take away almost as many delegates.

密西西比州民主黨選民有一半以上是非洲裔美國人。而非洲裔選民在過去的選舉中是支持奧巴馬的。預計這些選民將幫助他贏得星期二的初選。奧巴馬的父親來自肯尼亞，母親是白人。奧巴馬可能會贏得半數以上的選票。但是克林頓可能將獲得將近一半的黨代表票。

In Democratic contests the delegates are divided proportionally according the number of votes won by each candidate. Clinton is behind Obama by about 100 delegates at this point, but she is counting on a big win in Pennsylvania, which holds its primary on April 22. Polls show she has an advantage there.

在民主黨的競選中，黨代表票是按照競選人得票的比例分配的。目前克林頓的黨代表票比奧巴馬少大約100張。但是她期待在賓夕法尼亞州以很大優勢取勝。賓州將在4月22號舉行初選。民調顯示克林頓在賓州擁有優勢。

Mississippi is a poor state and often lands at or near the bottom of national lists on such matters as rural poverty, educational achievement and school financing. Issue of concern for voters include the economy, health care, job creation and the war in Iraq.

密西西比是一個貧窮州。在那里，鄉村貧窮、教育成就和學校的財政支持大都處于全國最低的水平或者接近最低的水平。該州選民關心的問題包括經濟、保健、創造就業和伊拉克戰爭。

On the eve of the Mississippi primary, as both candidates appeared around the state, a controversy flared over Clinton remarks that seemed to suggest she would be willing to name Obama as her running mate.

密西西比州初選前夕，兩位民主黨競選人都到那里競選。克林頓的言論顯示，克林頓愿意選擇奧巴馬作自己的競選夥伴。這些言論引起了一場爭議。

"I have had people say to me, 'I wish I could vote for both of you.' Well, that might be possible some day," she said.

克林頓說：“有些人對我講，‘我希望能投你們兩個人的票’。我看，有一天這會成為可能。”

Obama responded by rejecting the notion that he would accept the second-place spot on the ticket with Clinton.

奧巴馬的反應是，拒絕接受作克林頓的副總統競選夥伴的設想。

"I do not know how somebody who is in second place is offering the vice presidency to someone who is in first place," he said.

奧巴馬說：“首先，我不明白，在競選中處于第二位的人怎么會提出，讓處于第一位的人當副總統競選夥伴呢？”

Obama is also expressing irritation over assertions by Clinton that he is not experienced enough to take on the job of commander in chief. He questioned how Clinton could see him as a potential vice presidential candidate if she does not believe he is ready for such responsibility.

奧巴馬還對克林頓斷言說他沒有足夠的經驗擔任三軍統帥表示惱怒。奧巴馬問到，如果克林頓不相信他作好了擔負作三軍統帥責任的準備，那么克林頓怎么會認為他有能力擔任副總統候選人？

Democratic leaders are concerned that such rhetorical skirmishes between the two candidates may help Republicans by giving them ideas on how to attack whichever of the two wins the Democratic nomination. Senator John McCain, who has clinched the Republican nomination, has been able to concentrate on building his team and financial resources for the November election, while the Democrats still struggle to finalize their selection process.

根據美國憲法，總統如有意外，副總統自動接替總統職務。民主黨領導人擔心，兩位總統競選人之間這種唇槍舌劍式的互相抨擊可能會幫助共和黨，因為這可能提醒共和黨怎樣攻擊奧巴馬和克林頓兩人中勝出的民主黨候選人。麥凱恩參議員已經獲得了共和黨的提名。他在集中建立自己的團隊和財政資源，為11月大選作準備。民主黨仍然在竭力完成該黨推舉候選人的過程。