经济学人下载:共和党党内提名,表演正当时

The Republican nomination
共和党党内提名

It's showtime
表演正当时

The Republicans are, at last, seriously getting on with choosing a candidate to take on Barack Obama next year
共和党终于认真物色候选人参加明年大选，与奥巴马一决高下

Jun 9th 2011 | WASHINGTON, DC | from the print edition

IT HAS been said so often that it has come to look self-evident. But is the Republican field in the race for next year’s presidential election really so weak? Democrats said much the same about their own candidates in 1991, only to see Bill Clinton capture the White House.

选局再明显不过了。然而共和党阵营在明年的总统大选中真的不堪一击吗？1991年民主党也认为自己的候选人没有胜算，但最终比尔??克林顿赢得了大选，入主白宫。

True, Americans take a dim view of the field so far, if recent surveys by the Pew Research Centre and the Washington Post are to believed. Only 25% had a good impression of the likely candidates. Many stars have decided to sit this race out. But this week brought a surprise. Less than a week after announcing that he was running again, Mitt Romney, who came second to John McCain in 2008, found himself head-to-head, at 47% each, against Barack Obama in a Washington Post/ABC poll. Maybe the president is not unassailable after all.

事实上，要是皮尤研究中心和华盛顿邮报近期所做的调查属实的话，美国人对共和党参选阵营持悲观态度。只有25%的人对共和党大选候选人持好印象。许多政治明星人物都决定独善其身，隔岸观火。然而本周爆出了一个惊人的消息。根据华盛顿邮报和美国广播公司进行的调查，在米特??罗姆尼宣布第二次参选的几天后，就与巴拉克??奥巴马各获得47%的支持率。也许总统之位并非遥不可及。2008年米特??罗姆尼曾和同为共和党籍的约翰??麦凯恩一起参加党内提名选举，后宣布退出。