美国国会女议员巴赫曼宣布竞选总统

Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann has formally launched her campaign for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination. Bachmann is not the best known Republican running for president for next year, but she does have a growing national following among conservative voters who are looking for an alternative to the current front runner, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.

明尼苏达州选出的国会女众议员米歇尔.巴赫曼正式竞选总统大选共和党党内提名。巴赫曼在角逐明年总统大选的共和党人中并不是最有名的，但她在全国保守派选民中的支持度逐渐攀升，这些选民在寻找除了目前领先者、也就是前任麻萨诸塞州州长罗姆尼之外的人选。

Michele Bachmann kicks off bid for US president

Michele Bachmann kicked off her presidential campaign in the town where she was born, Waterloo, Iowa. “We can win in 2012 and we will win!” she exclaimed.

米歇尔.巴赫曼在她出生的小镇爱奥华州的滑铁卢展开竞选活动，巴赫曼说：“我们可以在2012年胜利，我们将会胜利！”

Bachmann has been elected to Congress three times from neighboring Minnesota, but her Iowa roots could help her next year when Iowa begins the presidential nominating process with its presidential party caucuses, now set for February.

巴赫曼在隔州的明尼苏达州三次获选为国会众议员，但她的爱奥华州背景有助于她明年在爱奥华州的总统初选投票党内提名过程中脱颖而出。总统初选投票将在明年二月举行。

Polls indicate close run with Romney

Bachmann got some good news in the latest Des Moines Register poll that found her nearly tied with Mitt Romney for the top choice among Iowa Republicans. Romney had 23 percent support followed closely by Bachmann at 22 percent. The rest of the Republican field lagged behind.

巴赫曼在《狄蒙纪录报》最新的民调中出现了好消息。这项调查显示，她几乎和罗姆尼并驾齐驱，成为爱奥华州共和党人的首选。罗姆尼获得23%选民支持，而巴赫曼的22%紧追在后。其他的共和党竞争者都远远落后。

Bachmann hopes to capitalize on her support among two key Republican voting groups in the race for the 2012 nomination, social conservatives and Tea Party activists pushing for a smaller central government.

巴赫曼希望利用她在两个共和党关键投票团体的支持度，帮助她赢得2012年提名。这两个团体是社会保守派，以及推动小政府的茶党活动人士。

“Government thinks they know better how to make a better life for us. They think they create jobs. They even think they can make us healthier. But that is not the case. We have to recapture the founder’s vision of a constitutionally conservative government if we are to secure the promise for the future,” she said.

巴赫曼说：“政府认为他们比我们知道怎么让我们生活得更好。他们认为他们创造了工作。他们甚至认为他们可以让我们更健康。但并不是这样的。如果我们要展望未来的话，我们必须重现立国者的立宪保守政府理念。”

Like many other Republican presidential candidates, Bachmann contends the image of the United States around the world has declined under the leadership of President Barack Obama.

就像许多其他共和党候选人，巴赫曼声称，美国在奥巴马总统的领导下在全世界的形象没落。

“And we can not afford four more years of a foreign policy with a president who leads from behind and who does not stand up for our friends like Israel, and who too often fails to stand against our enemies," she stated. "We cannot afford four more years of Barack Obama!”

巴赫曼说：“我们承受不起另外四年这样的外交政策，跟一个总统只会在幕后领导，不仅不支持我们的盟友、像以色列，也常常无法对抗我们的敌人。我们承受不起另外四年的奥巴马。”Political experts say Bachmann made a strong showing at the most recent Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire and the latest poll results suggest she has vaulted into the top tier of candidates that includes Mitt Romney.

政治专家说，巴赫曼最近在新罕布什州的共和党总统辩论表现出色，而且最新民调结果显示，她已经跃升进入包括罗姆尼在内的前排候选人。

Some of Bachmann’s gain may be coming at the expense of former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty. He was seen by many analysts as a potentially strong contender when he first got into the race.

巴赫曼获得的一部分支持可能将牺牲前明尼苏达州长蒂姆.普兰提。他在刚开始角逐时，许多分析人士看好他是名具备潜力的竞争者。

Nominee, still too early to call

But Pawlenty only received six-percent support in the Des Moines Register poll in Iowa even though he has intensively campaigned there for months.

但即使普兰提已经在爱奥华州密集竞选了好个月，他在爱奥华州《狄蒙纪录报》只获得了6%的支持率。

Pawlenty spoke on NBC’s Today program. “These early polls are not very good predictors of how the race is going to come out. If they were we would have Hillary Clinton as president. So there is still plenty of time to do well in Iowa and beyond,” he said.

Political analysts note the 2012 presidential campaign is still in its early stages and the actual process of selecting a nominee will not begin until early next year.

政治分析人士注意到，2012年总统大选竞选活动还处于初期阶段，一直要到明年年初才会真正开始选出候选人。

But Michele Bachmann’s early bump in the polls and her proven ability to raise campaign funds should make her a formidable candidate in a crowded Republican presidential field.

但是巴赫曼在民调的早期胜利，以及她筹募竞选资金的能力，应该会使她在拥挤的共和党提名竞赛中成为令人生畏的候选人。