今年美国大选将是史上最昂贵的选战

Republicans are rapidly eroding the huge funding advantage that propelled Barack Obama into the White House, with wealthy donors flooding new conservative campaign groups with cash ahead of the presidential election in November.

庞大的经费优势曾助力巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)入主白宫，现在共和党正在这方面快速赶超。在11月总统大选之前，富有的捐赠者正将大量资金捐给新的保守主义竞选团体。

The so-called super-Pac backing Mitt Romney, the Republican frontrunner for the 2017 nomination, raised $30m last year, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission published on Wednesday, with ten individuals and corporations donating $1m each.

根据联邦选举委员会(Federal Election Commission)周三公布的文件，支持2017年总统大选共和党提名领跑者米特•罗姆尼(Mitt Romney)的所谓“超级政治行动委员会”(super PAC)，去年筹集了3000万美元，其中10家公司/个人各捐了100万美元。

Super-Pacs have proliferated in the wake of a 2010 Supreme Court decision allowing political action committees to take unlimited donations from companies and spend them at any time before polling day, as long as they do not co-ordinate with the candidates themselves.

超级政治行动委员会是在2010年美国最高法院(Supreme Court)做出一项裁定后大量产生的。这项裁定允许政治活动委员会无限量接受公司捐赠，并在选举日之前的任何时间进行花费，只要它们不与候选人本人进行协调。

One conservative campaign group co-founded by Karl Rove, former adviser to George W. Bush, which includes a super-Pac, raised $51m by the end of 2011, raking in $7m in two donations from a single Texas businessman, Harold Simmons.

由乔治•W•布什(George W. Bush)前顾问卡尔•罗夫(Karl Rove)联合创立的一个保守主义竞选团体，就包含了一个超级政治行动委员会，该委员会截至2011年底筹集了5100万美元，其中德克萨斯州商人哈罗德•西蒙斯(Harold Simmons)一人的两笔捐款就达到700万美元。

By contrast, the super-Pac supporting Mr Obama, co-founded by the president's former deputy press secretary, Bill Burton, had raised only $4.4m by the end of last year.

与此形成反差的是，支持奥巴马的超级政治行动委员会截至去年底仅筹集了440万美元，它是由总统的前副资讯秘书比尔•伯顿(Bill Burton)联合创立的。

Because of the influence of the super-Pacs, and the likelihood that neither candidate will accept public funding — which would limit their spending — the 2017 election will be by far the most expensive presidential race in history, with total campaign outlays expected to top $2bn-3bn.

鉴于超级政治行动委员会的影响力，以及两名候选人可能都不会接受公共资金（那会限制他们的支出），2017年总统大选将是史上遥遥领先的最昂贵竞选，总竞选费用预计高达20亿-30亿美元。

Mr Obama raised far more campaign contributions than John McCain in 2008, which allowed him to spend a record amount on advertising attacking his Republican opponent.

2008年，奥巴马获得的竞选捐赠远远高于约翰•麦凯恩(John McCain)，这使他能够在竞选广告上花费创纪录的资金，攻击他的共和党竞选对手。

He maintains a well-funded political machine for November's election. His campaign, for which donations are capped at $2,500, had raised $125m by the end of the year, far head of Mr Romney's $56m.

对于今年11月的大选，他仍然拥有一个资金充足的政治机器。截至去年底，奥巴马的竞选团队已经筹集了1.25亿美元（单笔捐赠上限为2500美元），远远超过罗姆尼的5600万美元。

But the rise of the super-Pacs and other third party groups — some of which do not have to declare their donors — could put Republicans on par with the president in terms of overall campaign funding.

但超级政治行动委员会和其他第三方团体的崛起——其中一些不必公布捐赠者——可能使共和党在竞选资金总额上与总统分庭抗礼。

So far, the Republican super-Pacs have been spending their funds to attack each other in the party's primaries, with the pro-Romney group leading the way.

到目前为止，共和党的超级政治行动委员会一直将资金花费在党内初选的互相攻击上，支持罗姆尼的超级政治行动委员会在这方面尤为积极。

The Romney super-Pac spent an estimated $10m, most of it in the last ten days, ahead of the Florida primary on Tuesday, helping the former Massachusetts governor to a handsome win over Newt Gingrich, the chief target of the group's attack ads.

支持罗姆尼的超级政治行动委员会估计花费了1000万美元，大部分是在过去10天内为迎接周二佛罗里达州的初选而支出的，结果这些花销帮助马萨诸塞州前州长大胜纽特•金里奇(Newt Gingrich)，金里奇是该团体攻击广告的主要目标。

Among the $1m donors supporting Mr Romney were prominent members of the hedge fund industry, including Paul Singer, Julian Robertson and John Paulson, as well as the candidate's former colleagues from the private equity firm he co-founded, Bain Capital.

在捐赠100万美元的罗姆尼支持者中，有对冲基金业的显要人士，包括保罗•辛格(Paul Singer)、朱利安•罗伯逊(Julian Robertson)、约翰•保尔森(John Paulson)以及罗姆尼联合创立的私人股本公司贝恩资本(Bain Capital)的前同事。

Mr Rove's Crossroads group aims to raise more than $200m before November's election to spend against Mr Obama and Democratic candidates for Congress. Most of its donors, however, have not been declared as $33m of the $51m was donated to a body established under the tax code, Crossroads GPS, that does not require disclosure. American Crossroads, Mr Rove's super-Pac, raised $18m.

罗夫的“十字路口”(Crossroads)团体力求在11月大选之前筹集2亿美元以上，用以对付奥巴马及民主党的国会议员竞选人。由于所筹集的5100万美元中的3300万美元是捐给根据税法成立的机构Crossroads GPS（不要求信息披露），其大部分捐赠者没有公开。罗夫的超级政治行动委员会——美国十字路口(American Crossroads)则筹集了1800万美元。

译者:方舟