VOA常速英语:US Senate Races Tightening as Campaigns Head Into Homestretch

The republican convention in Charlotte is now over,
在夏洛特举行的共和党大会现在结束了，
but the political battle in north Carolina hasnt stopped.
但是北卡罗来纳州的政治斗争并没有停止。
Were being tested as a country, but Ive always run to the fight.
作为一个国家，我们正在接受考验，但我一直在战斗。
State senator Cal Cunningham is one of many democrats across the nation,
州参议员卡尔?坎宁安是全国众多民主党人之一，
running to unseat sitting republican senators like his opponent Thom Tillis.
他的竞选目标是推翻现任共和党参议员，比如他的对手汤姆·蒂利斯。
I grew up with strong parents and humble people in humble places.
我的父母很坚强，人也很卑微，生活在卑微的地方。
With its mix of rural urban and suburban areas,
作为乡村、城市和郊区的结合部，
north Carolina is an ideal indicator of the nations political mood.
北卡罗来纳州是国家政治情绪的理想指标。
North Carolina is very much a microcosm of the nation as a whole because our state is very bitterly divided.
北卡罗莱纳州是整个国家的缩影，因为我们的州非常分裂。
Its that last sliver of persuadable voters that could flip from one side to the other.
这是最后一小部分有可能从一方转向另一方的有说服力的选民。
That really makes north Carolina as competitive as any place else in the country.
这使得北卡罗莱纳州与美国其他任何地方一样具有竞争力。
Polls show Cunningham leading Tillis by about five percentage points.
民调显示，坎宁安领先蒂利斯约5个百分点。
President Trump is playing a key role in this race.
特朗普总统在这场竞选中发挥了关键作用。
The national dynamics plays out here in north Carolina particularly for the US senate race,
全国动态在北卡罗来纳州上演，特别是在美国参议院竞选中，
just because Thom Tillis was so closely aligned to President Trump before COVID,
就因为在疫情之前，托姆·蒂利斯是特朗普总统的铁杆支持者，
but when COVID hit he kind of started to tack more towards the middle, not really talking about Donald Trump.
但当疫情开始时，他似乎开始向中间靠拢，而不再谈论唐纳德·特朗普。
The coronavirus is also a key issue in Iowa,
在爱荷华州，冠状病毒也是一个关键问题，
where republican senator Joni Earnst: "we thought we had seen the worst" is locked in a debate
共和党参议员约尼·恩斯特在辩论中说“我们以为我们已经见过最糟糕的情况”，
with democratic challenger Theresa Greenfield: "were facing a crisis like nothing weve seen before."
民主党挑战者特蕾莎·格林菲尔德说“我们正面临前所未有的危机。”
Over the severity of the pandemic,
关于疫情的严重性，
a sign the national dynamic will play more of a role in the senate races this election cycle,
有迹象表明，在这次选举中，国家疫情动态将在参议院竞选中发挥更大的作用，
analysts say "were waiting to see how folks either defend the president and his handling of the coronavirus pandemic,
分析人士说，“我们在等着看人们如何保卫总统和他对新冠疫情的处理，
or whether theyre trying to distance themselves a little bit,
或者他们是否试图与自己保持距离，
and thatll depend on how much its impacted the state.
这将取决于它对国家的影响有多大。
In main Susan Collins is familiar with national attention,
苏珊·柯林斯对全国的关注很熟悉，
after her high profile vote confirming supreme court justice Brett Kavanaugh,
在她高调投票确认最高法院法官布雷特·卡瓦诺之后，
and acquitting Trump in the impeachment trial earlier this year.
并在今年早些时候的弹劾审判中宣告特朗普无罪。
The postal service is a lifeline.
邮政是一条生命线。
Shes running behind challenger Sarah Gideon who raised millions of dollars criticizing those votes,
她落后于挑战者萨拉·吉迪恩，后者通过批评这些选票筹集了数百万美元，
but in Alabama President Trumps support for republican Tommy Tuberville
但在阿拉巴马州，特朗普总统对共和党人汤米·巴斯维尔的支持
"we support Donald Trump down the line"has been a huge boost,
“我们支持唐纳德·特朗普”这是一个巨大的推动力，
giving him a double-digit lead over democrat Doug Jones who will likely lose his seat.
这使得他以两位数的优势领先于民主党的道格·琼斯，后者很可能会失去他的席位。
Its always surprising, and especially in places where Trump surprisingly won in 2016,
这总是令人惊讶的，尤其是在特朗普在2016年意外获胜的地方，
and those had those abilities of those senators to use their state dynamics independently,
那些有能力独立运用州动态的参议员，
from the nationalized Trump election right to speak to their specific states,
从特朗普全国选举权到特定州的话语权，
to distance themselves when appropriate to align themselves when appropriate.
在适当的时候与自己保持距离，在适当的时候使自己看齐。
Democrats also hope to win seats in Colorado and Arizona.
民主党人也希望在科罗拉多州和亚利桑那州赢得席位。
They will need to pick up three seats if Biden wins, four seats if Trump wins.Katherine Gibson VOA news Washington
如果拜登赢了，他们需要获得3个席位，如果特朗普赢了，则需要获得4个席位。VOA新闻，凯瑟琳·吉布森华盛顿报道