龚小夏博客文章--投票给我的第二选择(Going for My Second Choice)

tauringhuang.

很早便答应给博客的读者们详细地讲述我在今年总统大选投票中作决定的过程。前些天一直试图下笔，却是无论如何也写不清楚。中英文混在一起的草稿打出来之后，才发现关键的想法都是英文，而且想翻成中文却无论如何也翻不顺。原因很简单：这些问题都是用英文去想的。考虑之下作了个决定：先用英文将文章写出来再说。
　　文章写好了，思路也理清楚了，可是却发现依旧很难翻译出来。这是我头一次碰到翻译不了自己的文章的情况。当然，每句话都可以照着意思说出来，可是内涵却少了许多。我想，还是将文章原样放在这里，反正不少朋友也是能读英文的。
　　我的文章的题目是“投票给我的第二选择”。由于我在选民登记时登记为民主党人，所以十天后要到本州的民主党初选中投票。也就是说，我必须在希拉里和奥巴马之间选择一个。这篇文章就是我在考虑投票的过程中的想法。我可能会将选票投给希拉里，但是她却不是我的第一选择。
　　我认为，选民投票的第一选择是一位领袖，第二选择是一位经理。人们期待领袖将国家引向未来，而期待经理管好国家的事务。奥巴马是领袖型的，希拉里是经理型的。对领袖的智慧、才能、魅力、人格的要求，要远远高于经理。领袖如果选得不好，就有可能将国家带领上危险的道路。经理则只要好好守成就可以了。
　　奥巴马是否能成为一个好领袖，我还看不出来。我对他的怀疑在于他太多空洞的漂亮话，没有让我看到他作为一个领袖的勇气——起码要有说不好听的话的勇气。我害怕这种说漂亮话的人成事不足败事有余。特别是因为我自己的背景，我对说漂亮空话的领袖们有特殊的戒心。
　　希拉里是否能够成为一个领袖，目前还看不出来。但是从希拉里在参议员任上的记录来看，她是个很好的经理。也就是说，希拉里是我的第二选择。但是既然我目前还没有看见我的第一选择，我只好将票投给她 。
　　整篇文章大概的意思就是这些。
　　
　　Going for My Second Choice
　　
　　 In presidential elections, voters have two kinds of candidates from whom to choose: leaders and managers. There are leaders who lead the public along somewhat unknown paths, and there are managers who take care of well-understood state affairs. Leaders lead the masses toward the future, while managers follow the public interest. It would be ideal if we could find someone who combines both qualities, like another FDR. But more often you get one or the other, or even end up with neither, like we did with the current occupant of the White House.
　　 This year, we Democrats are facing exactly those two choices. Mr. Obama has shown his leadership ability by telling voters that he represents "HOPE," while Mrs. Clinton has shown her eagerness to manage by reminding voters of her resumé, or her "EXPERIENCE."
　　 Mr. Obama says Mrs. Clinton is a product of the "same old" Washington, which many voters loathe and desire fervently to change.
　　 Ms. Clinton, on the other hand, calls herself a "work horse" as opposed to a "show horse," implying that she will work hard to take care of the people’s business while Mr. Obama, who makes voters feel good, may do less than this.
　　 As a voter, I want a leader. I believe that most of the nation, after eight years of Bush, shares my hunger. The massive turnout of Obama voters demonstrates such an attitude. However, there is a little voice in my head that cautions me against rushing into giving Mr. Obama my vote.
　　 Natural leaders possess qualities different from those of capable managers. While management is learned, leadership requires charisma, a quality with which one is born. Natural leaders inspire the masses, and convince the latter – often without much effort – to follow a misty path into the future. Leaders promise rainbows on the horizon, and engender collective excitement for a journey to the unknown.
　　 I have to confess that I am a real sucker for grandiose sentiment. I always cry at such points when I watch movies. As a historian, however, and as a person who was both a witness to, and a victim of, the Chinese communist revolution, I have known too many leaders who were adored by their people even as they were leading them down the road to hell. They usually mesmerized their followers with great speeches before pushing their countries into a state of extreme fear before destroying them. So I feel I’ve got good reason to be cautious.
　　 Of course I am not comparing Mr. Obama to Mao or any other such hellish leaders. But it’s the following that gives me pause:
　　 First, I am extremely uncomfortable with Mr. Osama’s status as a media darling. The press has been among his biggest cheerleaders. While every move Mrs. Clinton makes has been subject to intense – and usually negative- scrutiny, Mr. Obama gets away with his behavior that would normally raise a red flag in other candidates, such as his past drug use or his long-time smoking habit. I think perhaps the media have kept the gloves on out of fear of being accused of prejudice. If that’s true, it is an approach that is no less bigoted. And ironically, it only goes to validate Ms. Clinton's claim that Mr. Obama is untested, since the media refuse to turn up the heat and test him.
　　 Second, I am bothered by Mr. Obama's inspirational speeches, which, while charming, ultimately provide relatively little substance. I have been trying hard to find concrete policies in his discussions of issues like health care, Social Security and the need for an economic stimulus. It’s not that he doesn’t touch on these subjects; it’s just hard to figure out how his words and slogans will translate into policies. Perhaps I am just unimaginative, but I don’t feel Mr. Obama has given me enough here.
　　 Third, I need more than repeated speeches about "HOPE" and "CHANGE," I want to know the real Barack Obama, not the one who has been carefully shaped by his “handlers.”. Before giving him my vote, he needs to give me well-thought answers to questions like what he will rely on when facing difficult situations, or what his greatest weaknesses are and how he intends to overcome them. "Helping old ladies cross the street" may a cute answer, but it is somewhat disingenuous and can hardly be translated into leadership quality.
　　Finally, Mr. Obama has yet to prove to my satisfaction his authenticity as a leader. I haven't heard anything from him that is not poll-driven or that carries all the rough edges of original ideas that might be unpopular but that could be good policy. Talking about the "same-olds," do we really want old wine in a new bottle?
　　Ms. Clinton, in fact, has revealed her weaknesses by implying that she is not a show horse. She is, indeed, not very good at giving people circuses, but I think she is capable of providing them with bread. In that sense, she is proven by her Senate record. In other words, she has shown qualities of a good manager.
　　I realize that I have been a little unfair to Mr. Obama, since Ms. Clinton has also shown a less than admirable side. But as I said at the beginning, a manager is my first choice only when a leader is absent. Moreover, I hold leaders to a higher standard of virtue than managers, since I expect such a leader to lead the nation in Directions that are sometimes unknown. I do not want to be led to a Brave New World.
　　The favorite theme of the 2008 election seems to be CHANGE. Change is hardly new, of course. We change every day, for better or worse. Mr. Obama surely has no monopoly on the intention to change or the capacity for change. In light of the Bush disaster, virtually all the candidates from both parties are calling for change. But what are we going to change into?
　　In many aspects, I actually want to change BACK to the "same old." I want the new occupant of the White House to reverse the erosion of our civil liberties, to rebuild our tattered international image, to re-establish fiscal discipline, to help us regain confidence to our market economy, and to revitalize our spirit of entrepreneurship. Such "same olds" have represented "HOPE" for many people in the world for so long, even after President Bush messed up everything. If you don't believe me, just go to any poor country and see the long lines for visa application in front of the U.S. consulates.
　　I, too, hope that the new Administration will change the Washington bureaucracy. Having worked in Washington for ten years, I greatly resent the inefficiency, mediocrity, wastefulness, and indifference of our government to the needs of our people. Even though I am a registered Democrat, President Reagan's criticism of government bureaucracy still rings true for me. Yet, it takes both audacity and experience even to begin to deal with this monstrous organism. The process of reforming the bureaucracy will be messy, unpleasant and painful. We all hope for a quick fix, but it will take someone with years of experience just to untangle the problems.
　　To sum up, both Mr. Obama and Ms. Clinton are untested leaders. Unlike Mr. Obama, however, Ms. Clinton is a tested manager. That is why I am inclined to vote for her. To be honest, I don't enjoy aiming for a second choice. Like most Americans, I’d rather choose a genuine leader. But until a candidate shows me that he/she possesses leadership qualities, I am going for my second choice.

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