Battleground States Bring Obama Second Term

Voters awarded President Barack Obama a second term Tuesday, as he swept most battleground states despite voters' lingering concerns about the economy and the direction that the country is headed.

    美国选民周二将现任总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)推上了连任之路，尽管选民们对经济及美国的走向仍心存担忧，但奥巴马一举拿下了大部分摇摆州。

From the start of this campaign, polls showed the president with narrow but persistent leads in the states that would have the final say on Election Day. While the overall vote was close nationally, Mr. Obama defeated challenger Republican Mitt Romney in most of the tossup states, including the most coveted, Ohio. The Republican nominee's late push to expand the electoral map and make states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan competitive fell short, leaving him little chance of winning without Ohio in his column.

    从此次竞选一开始，民调就显示，在那些将决定谁最终赢得总统选举的关键州，奥巴马一直持续保持着微弱的领先优势。全国投票已经结束，奥巴马在大部分摇摆州都战胜了共和党总统候选人罗姆尼(Mitt Romney)，包括竞争最为激烈的俄亥俄州。罗姆尼在选战的最后阶段扩大了竞选造势范围，在宾夕法尼亚和密歇根等州与奥巴马展开激烈竞争，但此举未能成功。在没有赢得俄亥俄州的情况下，他的获胜希望已经很渺茫。

In the end, Mr. Obama relied on a sophisticated ground operation to mobilize the demographic groups that had been his most reliable supporters: minority, young and female voters. Mr. Romney managed to peel away many white voters, particularly working-class men, but that wasn't enough to overtake the president.

    最终，奥巴马依靠复杂精密的战术来调动此前一直是他最可靠支持者的选民群体：少数族裔、年轻人及女性选民。虽然罗姆尼争取到了很多白人选民的支持，特别是工薪阶层男性选民，但这不足以扳倒奥巴马。

Mr. Obama's victory in the bruising campaign marks a landmark in modern election history. No sitting president since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940 has won re-election with a higher unemployment rate, which stands at 7.9%. It is also the first time since 1816 the U.S. has had three consecutive two-term presidents. Also re-elected was Joe Biden of Delaware as vice president.

    奥巴马赢得了这场竞争激烈的大选，这可谓是现代选举历史上的一个里程碑。自1940年罗斯福(Franklin D. Roosevelt)总统以来，还没有哪位现任总统在失业率更高（目前为7.9%）的情况下赢得连任。这也是1816年以来，美国连续第三位获得连任的总统。此外，特拉华州的拜登(Joe Biden)连任副总统。

When 270 electoral votes appeared to be within reach, Mr. Obama tacitly declared victory on Twitter.

    在270张选举人票似乎唾手可得时，奥巴马默默地在推特(Twitter)上宣布获胜。

'We're all in this together. That's how we campaigned,' he tweeted.

    他写道，我们齐心协力取得了胜利。我们就是这样竞选的。

Greeting Mr. Obama will be a divided Congress. Democrats were set to retain their Senate majority while Republicans kept control of the House. After the election, Washington remained aligned exactly as it was Tuesday morning, despite $6 billion in spending and 1.2 million political ads.

    奥巴马将面对的是一个两院分别由民主党和共和党控制的国会。民主党将继续在参议院保持多数席位，而共和党将继续控制众议院。大选后，华盛顿的局面仍与周二早间一样，尽管两位候选人的竞选活动花费了60亿美元，政治广告花了120万美元。

Tuesday's election was the culmination of the most expensive presidential contest in history, as both parties funneled billions into attack ads, super-PAC expenditures and get-out-the-vote efforts. Mr. Romney relied on a single, overarching message, believing that this election would turn on the economy.

    周二的大选将这场有史以来最昂贵的总统选举推向了高潮，两党在竞选广告、超级政治行动委员会(super PAC)支出和拉票上花费了30亿美元。罗姆尼的竞选主题单一而明确，他认为这次总统选举的关注点将是经济。

Exit polls suggested that the argument had some resonance, with most voters saying that the economy was the most important issue and only four in 10 saying that it was getting better. Still, voters were nearly evenly divided on the question of who would better handle the economy, and more voters viewed Mr. Obama favorably than the Republican challenger.

    初步选后民调显示，罗姆尼的主张引发了一定的共鸣，大部分选民说经济是最重要的问题，只有四成选民说经济开始好转。尽管如此，在谁能把经济搞得更好这个问题上，支持奥巴马和罗姆尼的选民几乎各占一半，相比罗姆尼，更多的选民对奥巴马更有好感。

In many ways, Tuesday's results appeared to be an endorsement of the president─but not necessarily his policies. While many voters expressed positive feelings about the Obama administration, a plurality of voters support a repeal of Mr. Obama's health-care law, exit polls showed. More than half said government is doing too many things better left to individuals and businesses, one of Mr. Romney's oft-stated themes.

    很大程度上讲，周二的大选结果似乎是选民们对奥巴马的认可，但不一定是对他的政策的认可。初步选后民调显示，尽管很多选民表示对奥巴马政府有好感，但有相当多选民支持废除奥巴马推动通过的医疗法，有一半以上的选民说，政府管得太多，有些事是交给个人和企业来做，而这是罗姆尼经常强调的一点。

Messrs. Obama and Romney both projected confidence up until the polls closed, and even as returns began to trickle in, advisers from both camps continued to argue that they saw a path to victory. The president said he was cautiously optimistic Tuesday, and after greeting supporters in Pittsburgh Tuesday, Mr. Romney said he felt more certain than ever that he would win.

    直到投票结束前，奥巴马和罗姆尼都表示有信心获胜。就在各州陆续开票时，双方阵营的顾问仍在继续称他们看到了通往胜利之路。奥巴马周二说，他持谨慎乐观态度。周二，在匹兹堡向支持者问好后，罗姆尼说，他比以往更加肯定自己将获胜