時事分析:美國大選中的社會問題
The Republican presidential race has been all about the economy. With sluggish economic growth and millions of Americans still out of work, the candidates for the nomination have been trying to portray themselves as the best person to fix it.
共和黨總統候選人之爭一向都是圍繞經濟話題展開。在經濟增長乏力、數百萬美國人依然面臨失業的情況下，候選人努力將自身描繪成解決這一問題的最佳人選。
But social issues — which have energised Republican politics for decades — returned dramatically to the fore during the past week, with controversies involving contraception and abortion, religious freedom and same-sex marriage filling the airwaves.
但最近，數十年來爲共和黨的政治活動源源不斷地注入活力的社會問題，重新被推到了風口浪尖，有關節育與墮胎、宗教自由以及同性婚姻的辯論，充斥着媒體的各個角落。
"For a substantial portion of the Republican base, this is the central issue," says Bill Galston, a respected political analyst at the Brookings Institution. "They are concerned about what they see as the cultural decay of America."
“對偏向共和黨的很大一部分選民來說，這纔是中心問題。”備受尊敬的布魯金斯學會(Brookings Institution)政治問題分析師比爾•蓋爾斯頓(Bill Galston)指出，“他們認爲美國的文化正在衰敗，併爲此感到擔心。”
The spotlight on social issues will probably benefit Rick Santorum, who won a clean sweep in the nomination contests in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri on Tuesday night.
對社會問題的關注，或許將令裏克•桑托勒姆(Rick Santorum)從中受益。近日，在科羅拉多州、明尼蘇達州和密蘇里州的總統候選人提名之爭中，桑托勒姆大獲全勝。
A social conservative with hardline views — he opposes abortion in all cases, including rape and incest — he has focused his campaign efforts on Christian conservatives. He has been unapologetic about putting social issues front and centre, even in a time of economic strife.
作爲一名立場強硬的社會保守派——他反對一切情況下的墮胎行爲，包括因強姦和亂倫而導致的墮胎——桑托勒姆將競選重點放到了信仰基督教的保守派選民身上。他沒有辯解爲何要將社會問題置於重中之重，即便是在經濟領域矛盾重重的情況下。
But Mr Santorum, a Catholic with seven children, played down the role the contraception issue played in his victories. "I don't think it was a big issue at all," he told Fox News yesterday morning. "Our numbers were doing much better before this controversy came up."
不過，有着7個孩子的天主教徒桑托勒姆卻認爲，節育問題在幫助他獲勝的過程中所起的作用其實沒那麼大。“我完全不認爲這是一個重要的問題。”他向福克斯新聞(Fox News)表示，“這一爭議出現前，我們的支持率要高得多。”
Still, analysts say the issues played to Mr Santorum's strengths with his Party's conservative base.
儘管如此，分析人士表示，鑑於共和黨所擁有的保守派選民基礎，這些問題還是強化了桑托勒姆的優勢。
Social issues have garnered new attention since the Obama administration ordered last week that employers — including Catholic hospitals and universities — must provide health insurance for contraception, including the morning-after pill.
奧巴馬政府近日要求，各用人單位——包括天主教醫院和大學——必須爲節育提供醫療保險（包括緊急避孕藥），此後，社會問題再次受到選民們的關注。
This comes after a decision, later reversed, by the Susan G. Komen breast cancer foundation to pull funding from Planned Parenthood, a service that provides contraception and abortions, after being put under pressure.
此前，由於受到壓力，蘇珊•G•科門(Susan G. Komen)乳腺癌基金會決定將資金從提供節育和墮胎服務的計劃生育聯盟(Planned Parenthood)中撤出。不過後來，該基金會取消了這一計劃。
It also coincides with a federal court ruling declaring California's voter-supported ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional.
與此同時，一家聯邦法院作出裁決：同性戀婚姻禁令雖得到加州選民的支持，但卻違反了憲法。
"When you couple social issues with broader concerns like freedom of conscience, it's bigger than a pure social issue," said Mike Franc of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank. "This is not just about contraception, it's about who gets to make core decisions."
“當你把社會問題與更廣層面的擔憂，比如良知的自由聯繫起來時，它就不只是一個純粹的社會問題了。”保守派智庫傳統基金會(Heritage Foundation)的邁克•弗蘭克(Mike Franc)表示，“這不僅是節育的問題，而是重大決定將由誰來作出的問題。”
Social conservatives have played a decisive role in presidential politics in recent decades. George W. Bush courted them assiduously in his successful campaigns in 2000 and 2004, while John McCain appeared less comfortable addressing their concerns in 2008.
最近幾十年間，社會保守派在大選政治中扮演着關鍵性的角色。喬治•W•布什(George W. Bush)在2000年和2004年成功競選的過程中，對他們不敢有絲毫怠慢，而約翰•麥凱恩(John McCain) 2008年競選時，面對社會保守派提出的問題，應對起來則顯得不那麼從容。
The Tea Party's focus on the size of the US government and the budget put social issues in the background, but recent debate has rekindled passions.
茶黨對美國政府及預算規模的關注，曾使社會問題淡出了人們的視線，而最近的爭論又重新點燃了人們的興趣。
Catholic leaders have responded angrily to the Obama administration's directive on providing contraception, saying it would force them to subsidise and offer a practice that goes against their beliefs.
針對奧巴馬政府要求用人單位提供節育保險的指令，天主教領袖表達了強烈不滿，他們表示，這將迫使他們進行補貼，並做出有違其宗教信仰的舉動。
The issue is even more high-stakes given that Catholics are the biggest swing religious bloc of the electorate and routinely vote for the eventual president.
考慮到在全體選民中，天主教徒的人數在搖擺不定的信教人羣中是最多的，而且他們投票支持的候選人常常會成功當選，鑑於這兩點，上述問題就顯得更加非同小可。
Seeing Mr Santorum gaining in the polls, Mitt Romney, the frontrunner for the nomination who has been accused of "flip-flopping" on social issues for the sake of political expediency, has also sought — unsuccessfully — to win over social conservatives this week.
看到桑托勒姆的民調支持率上升後，米特•羅姆尼(Mitt Romney)最近也試圖贏得社會保守派的支持——但結果卻事與願違。有人指責，在共和黨初選中領跑的羅姆尼出於政治便利的考慮，在社會問題上的態度總是“飄忽不定”。
Mr Romney has joined the chorus of criticism against the administration, calling its new regulations an attack on "religious liberty", apparently in an attempt to appeal both to the religious right and centrist Catholic voters.
羅姆尼也對政府提出了批評，稱其新規是對“宗教自由”的踐踏，這似乎是爲了博取宗教右翼選民和中間派天主教選民的好感。
The administration's new directive was a real blow "to our friends in the Catholic faith," Mr Romney, who is a Mormon, said in Loveland, Colorado, this week.
身爲摩門教徒的羅姆尼近日在科羅拉多州洛弗蘭德表示，政府的新規大大傷害了“我們那些信仰天主教的朋友”。
“This kind of assault on religion will end if I'm president of the United States,” Mr Romney said.
他表示，“如果我是美國總統，宗教受到的這種傷害將會結束。”
譯者:何黎
