Instead, he beat him in politics, with words rather than fists. As things turned out, the contrasting styles of his predecessors may have made Mr Biden’s deeply prosaic register an asset after all.
相反,拜登沒有動拳頭,而是在政治上用言語擊敗了特朗普。事實證明,與前任總統們截然不同的風格竟然可能使拜登平淡無奇的語體風格變成難能可貴的財富。
Receiving his party’s nomination in 2008, Mr Obama said future generations might remember the occasion as “the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal”. His high-flown rhetoric raised expectations to messianic levels. Dashed hopes led many voters to look for someone who sounded as little like a politician as possible. In 2016 that meant a political novice who eschewed focus-grouped formulations in favour of provocative, often vulgar tirades. Not only did voters not mind; Mr Trump’s outrageous style was hugely effective. His vernacular delivery implied that he was a real boss, not a backslapping hack, with unique skills to get things done. But in office his coarseness turned some voters off, even as it thrilled others.
奧巴馬在2008年獲得民主黨黨內提名時表示,我們的子孫后代可能會把這一時刻記為“海洋面上升開始放緩,地球開始恢復的時刻”。他浮夸的言辭讓人們抱有很高的期待,期望總統會是彌賽亞那樣的人物。然而希望破滅了,許多選民為此想要尋求一個聽起來與政客截然不同的總統。也就是2016年大選時的政治新手特朗普,他完全避開了政客焦點組合式的表述,而傾向于挑釁性的、通常是言辭粗鄙的長篇大論。選民們不但不介意特朗普離譜的作風,反而十分受用。他的白話表達意味著他是一個真正的老板,而不是彈冠相慶的政客,他用這些獨特的技巧當選了總統。但在執政期間,他的粗俗不堪讓一些選民欣喜若狂,也讓其他選民望而卻步。
All that makes this an ideal time for Average Joe, for whom being able to talk fluidly at all was a hard-won achievement. Mr Biden grew up with a severe stutter, which he overcame as a young man. In one of the most touching scenes of his campaign, he told a boy who stutters, “Don’t let it define you. You are smart as hell.” Mr Biden took the boy’s number and called him with some tips that had helped him; later the boy spoke to the Democratic National Convention.
種種因素為普通人喬·拜登創造了絕佳的競選時機。于拜登而言,能夠流利地交談已經是來之不易的成就了。拜登從小就患有嚴重的口吃,青年時期才得以克服。拜登競選時曾有一幕最令人動容,他對一個結巴的男孩說,“別讓口吃定義你。你非常聰明。”拜登記下了男孩的號碼,并打電話跟他分享幾個曾經對自己有幫助的小竅門;這個男孩后來在民主黨全國代表大會上發表了演講。
Even careful presidents make gaffes under constant scrutiny. In office, Mr Biden will no doubt give comics plenty of material to sharpen their impersonations. But if he gets tongue-tied or says the wrong thing every now and then, well, so do most people. After 12 years of extraordinary political speech, Americans may be ready for a president who sounds like them.
即使是謹慎的總統也會在不斷的審視下失態。在任期間,拜登無疑會給喜劇提供大量犀利的模仿素材。如果他現在經常結結巴巴或說錯話,沒關系,大多數人也會這樣失言的。經過12年非凡的政治演講后,美國人可能已經準備好迎接一位聽起來和自己差不多的總統了。
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