離開
進入《中英對照讀新聞》Obama Ducks Responsibility for Democrats’ Election Defeat 歐巴馬迴避民主黨敗選責任
◎管淑平
Speaking one day after the Republicans took the Senate majority away from the Democrats, President Barack Obama declined to acknowledge that his own unpopularity may have played a role.
歐巴馬在共和黨從民主黨手中搶走參議院多數黨地位的次日發表談話，拒絕承認這樣的結果或許與他自己不得人心有關係。
"I don’t want to try to read the tea leaves on election results," Obama told reporters in a White House news conference. "What I am going to try to do as president is to make sure that I am advancing what I think is best for the country."
「我不想試圖解讀選舉結果，」歐巴馬在一場白宮記者會上向記者說：「身為總統，我要努力的是確定我正推動我認為最有利於這國家的事。」
Obama conceded that the GOP "had a good night," though shied away from using any buzzword like "shellacking," which he used after Democrats lost control of the House during his first midterms in 2010.
歐巴馬承認共和黨「有美好一夜」，但他避用任何形容這場選舉的熱門字眼，例如「慘敗」；他曾在民主黨於2010年他第1任內首次期中選舉丟掉眾議院後用過這個字。
Asked about Democrats who didn’t want to appear on the campaign trail with him, Obama said he was "practical."
被問到選戰期間有民主黨人不想與他同台出現，歐巴馬說他是「務實的人」。
"I love campaigning," Obama said. "I’m also a practical guy, and ultimately every candidate out there had to make their own decisions about what they thought would be most helpful for them."
「我喜歡打選戰，」歐巴馬說：「我也是務實的人，最終每個候選人都得自己決定，他們認為誰最能幫助他們。」
Obama said he is "open to working with" the new majority on issues where there could be common ground, but he also said flatly that there will be some things that cannot be bridged.
歐巴馬說，在能有共識的議題上，他對於與新的多數黨合作「持開放態度」，但他也坦言，會有些歧見無法化解。
新聞辭典：
duck：動詞，逃避、迴避、閃躲（責任、人或做某事）。例句：The president was accused of ducking the issue of reform.（總統被指控迴避改革議題。）
shy away from （someone/something）：動詞片語，閃避、避開、逃避。例句：He didn’t shy away from making decisions.（他沒有閃避做決策。）
shellacking：名詞，潰敗、慘敗。例句：We took a shellacking in the election.（我們在這場選舉吞了大敗仗。）
