奥巴马,我们是否该给他第二次机会?

Last week I was at a party in a Manhattan art gallery attended by the inevitable mix of artists, journalists and wealthy art collectors. I ran into a friend, a painter, who is a strong supporter of the Democratic party, but she told me she wasn't donating money to the Obama campaign this year. "He's been a huge disappointment," she said. "Not one major Wall Street banker has been held accountable for the financial crash, and he's extended the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy. I just can't get enthusiastic about him. I don't even know if I'll vote."

上周我在曼哈顿的一个艺术画展上，出席者不可避免地混杂着艺术家、记者和富有的艺术收藏家。我遇到了一个画家朋友，她是坚定的民主党支持者，但她告诉我今年她不会捐钱给奥巴马的竞选班子。 “他一直令人大大的失望，”她说。 “没有一个华尔街银行家被追究金融危机的责任，他延长了布什对富人的减税政策，我只是对他没有热情，我甚至不知道我会不会投票。”

In another part of the room a group of art collectors, most of whom worked in the financial industry, were clutching plastic glasses of cheap white wine and complaining about Obama from the opposite end of the political spectrum. "He's a socialist," said one, a short, bald man who runs a huge hedge fund. "He hates people like us." His friends all nodded in agreement.

在房间的另一边聚集着一群艺术收藏家，其中大部分在金融行业工作，他们拿着装有廉价白葡萄酒的塑料杯，抱怨奥巴马的政治辐射的另一端。 “他是一个社会主义者，”一个人说，他是一个运行着庞大的对冲基金的矮个秃头男人。 “他讨厌像我们这样的人。”他的朋友们都点头赞同。

It's curious that Obama has managed to alienate the big bankers and brokers and investors, many of whom supported him in 2008, even as he has infuriated those who feel he hasn't been tough enough on Wall Street.

奇怪的是，奥巴马一直试图疏远那些大银行家、经纪人和投资者，他们中许多人曾在2008年支持过他，甚至当他激怒了那些觉得他一直对华尔街不够强硬的人。

What disappoints many of us outside of Wall Street is the feeling that Obama hasn't been nearly as effective in bailing out the lower and middle classes. For someone who so inspired us with his soaring oratory during the last campaign, he has turned out to be a poor communicator during his first term, failing at crucial moments to explain and defend his policies. Even now, in this crucial election, his best and most articulate advocate has been Bill Clinton, who delivered a superb defence of Obama at the Democratic National Convention.

华尔街之外，令我们许多人失望是感觉奥巴马一直没有卓有成效地帮助中下阶层走出困境。对于一个在上一届竞选中用鼓舞人心的雄辩术激励我们的人，他竟然在第一个任期内疏于沟通，关键时刻无法解释和辩护他的政策。即使现在，在这次关键的竞选中，他最好的和最善于表达的支持者一直是比尔•克林顿，他在民主党全国代表大会上给予了奥巴马很大的维护。

The best we can say about Obama's foreign policy record is that he's not George Bush, that he managed to end the absurd and unjustified war in Iraq. And yet… the symbolism of an African-American president is still incredibly potent, even after four years. He remains the most charismatic of world leaders.

我们可以说，奥巴马外交政策的最好纪录是他不是乔治•布什，他设法结束了荒谬非正义的伊拉克战争。然而......一个非洲裔总统的象征意义仍然是极其有力的，即使是四年后。他仍然是最有魅力的世界领袖。

Obama may have lost some of his mystique, and disappointed many of us, but he hasn't yet irrevocably betrayed us, or his ideals, and he will probably get another chance to fulfil some of the great expectations of 2008.

奥巴马可能已经失去了一些神秘感，让我们很多人失望，但他还没有不可挽回地背叛我们或他的理想，他可能会得到另一个机会来实现2008年的那些伟大设想。