经济学人下载:共和党提名,七推特之舞

The Republican nomination
共和党提名

The dance of the seven tweets
七推特之舞

The former speaker starts a presidential campaign
前众院议长开始总统竞选

May 12th 2011 | WASHINGTON, DC | from the print edition

NEWT GINGRICH entered the race for president much as he has conducted himself throughout his political career: chaotically. In March his aides let slip that he would make a big announcement during a stop at the state capitol in Atlanta, Georgia, only to retract the whole plan for reasons that still remain opaque. Then on May 9th his staff used Twitter to declare that two days later he would issue a tweet, along with an update to his Facebook page, that would mark his entry into the race. All this tweeting about possible future tweets kept commentators puzzling (which may have been part of the point) but finally, on May 11th, the immortal words “Today I am announcing my candidacy for President of the United States” appeared on Mr Gingrich’s feed, in between a plug for an upcoming television appearance and an enthusiastic mention of a book about the Berlin wall.

纽特金瑞奇此次进入总统竞选,一如他自己在其整个政治生涯所演绎过的：很混乱。三月份他的助手们无意中透露过，他将会在佐治亚州亚特兰大州议会厅逗留期间做一重大宣布：由于各种仍保密的原因要取消整个竞选计划。然而5月9日他的工作人员通过微博宣布，两天后他将发布一条推特，同时更新他的脸书，以此标志他加入总统竞选。这个关于未来可能的推特的推特完全令时政评论员们感到迷惑（哪个会是重点所在即正式的宣告呢）但最终，5月11日，“今日我将宣布竞选美国总统”这个不朽词句，出现在金瑞奇先生所供的新闻播料中，就在为一个即将播出的电视演出所作的插播和一本关于柏林墙的书的热推之间。

Mr Gingrich’s affinity for social media notwithstanding, most Americans think of him as a figure from the past. He was first elected to Congress in 1978. In 1994 he was the inspiration behind the Contract with America, a manifesto that helped the Republicans to win a majority in the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years. As a result, he became speaker, and proceeded to duel with Bill Clinton, the president of the day, over both budgets and Mr Clinton’s personal life.

金瑞奇先生与社交媒体关系密切，尽管如此，多数美国人记起的还是他以往的形象。1978年他第一个当选为国会议员。1994年他提出的“与美国签约”的竞选纲领帮助共和党40年来首次羸得众议院多数席位。结果，他成了众院议长，并在比尔克林顿就任总统期间，在预算和克林顿私生活上，继续与其抗衡。