——2008美国大选之夜

     2008年11月4日，美国大选日。像所有人预测的，奥巴马毫无悬念地轻松击败麦凯恩，当选为美国历史上第一位黑人总统。

    当所有的聚光灯都照向奥巴马时，很少有人注意到，麦凯恩发表了一篇第一流的败选演说。

    他今年已经72岁了，这次竞选很可能是他人生中的最后一件大事。今晚过后，他长达半个世纪的公职生涯也许就结束了，那么这篇演说就是他在历史中留下的最后声音了。

    麦凯恩演说的场地，是亚利桑那州凤凰城的一块空地，那里离他的家很近，开车只要10分钟。就是在这块场地上，他办过结婚时的露天宴会，以及许多次参议员选举获胜的庆祝晚会。



我的朋友们，我们已经走完了这次漫长的旅程

Thank you. Thank you, my friends. Thank you for coming here on this beautiful Arizona evening.

感谢各位。非常感谢你们，我的朋友们。感谢你们在这个美好的夜晚，来到这里。

My friends, we have -- we have come to the end of a long journey. The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly.

我的朋友们，我们已经，已经走完了这次漫长的旅程。美国人民已经说出了他们的决定，说得非常清楚。

A little while ago, I had the honor of calling Sen. Barack Obama to congratulate him.

刚才，我非常荣幸地给奥巴马参议员打电话，向他表示祝贺。

To congratulate him on being elected the next president of the country that we both love.

祝贺他当选为这个国家的下一任总统，这个我们两个都无比热爱的国家的下一任总统。


我明白这次选举对于非洲裔美国人的特殊意义
This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight.

这是一次历史性的选举。我明白这次选举对于非洲裔美国人的特殊意义，感受到了此刻他们心中油然而生的自豪感。

I've always believed that America offers opportunities to all who have the industry and will to seize it. Sen. Obama believes that, too.

我始终深信不疑，对于任何一个勤奋努力、勇于开拓的人，美国都会给予他机会。奥巴马参议员也深信这一点。

But we both recognize that, though we have come a long way from the old injustices that once stained our nation's reputation and denied some Americans the full blessings of American citizenship, the memory of them still had the power to wound.

但是，我们两个也都不曾忘记，历史上有过一段黑暗的日子，一些美国人被剥夺了完整的公民权，这样的不公正令我们的国家蒙羞。虽然它早已成为了历史，但是伤痛的记忆依然存在。

A century ago, President Theodore Roosevelt's invitation of Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage in many quarters.

一个世纪前，西奥多·罗斯福总统邀请Booker T. Washington（注：黑人教育家），到白宫共进晚餐。全国各地有许多人，认为这是一个骇人听闻的事件。

America today is a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. There is no better evidence of this than the election of an African-American to the presidency of the United States .

今天的美国已经是一个完全不同的世界了，骇人的残忍和可怕的偏执一去不复返了。最好的证据就是，今晚一个非洲裔美国人当选为美利坚合众国的总统。

我将尽我所能帮助他
These are difficult times for our country. And I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.

我们的国家正处在艰难时刻。奥巴马参议员将领导我们迎接挑战。今晚，我向他保证，我将尽我所能帮助他，

I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited.

我呼吁所有支持我的美国人，一起加入我，不仅向我们的下一任总统表示祝贺，而且将我们良好的愿望和不懈的努力都提供给他，一起构筑沟通的桥梁，一起找到恢复繁荣的道路，在这个危险的世界中确保我们的安全，让我们的子孙生活在一个更强大、更美好的国家。

失败是我的，不是你们的
It is natural. It's natural, tonight, to feel some disappointment. But tomorrow, we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again.

今晚，很自然地，我们会感到一些失望。但是明天，我们还要继续前进，还要并肩工作，让我们的国家不断向前。

We fought -- we fought as hard as we could. And though we fell short, the failure is mine, not yours.
我们努力过了，尽了我们所能。虽然最后我们没有成功，但是失败是我的，不是你们的。

I am so deeply grateful to all of you for the great honor of your support and for all you have done for me. I wish the outcome had been different, my friends.

我要对你们所有人表示深切的感谢，你们的支持和你们为我所做的一切，是我的莫大荣耀。我的朋友们，我多么希望，我们有一个不一样的结果。

The road was a difficult one from the outset, but your support and friendship never wavered. I cannot adequately express how deeply indebted I am to you.

从第一天起，这就是一条艰难的道路，但是你们的支持和努力从未动摇。我无法用言语表达，我对你们是多么感激。

我的心中只有感激
I don't know -- I don't know what more we could have done to try to win this election. I'll leave that to others to determine. Every candidate makes mistakes, and I'm sure I made my share of them. But I won't spend a moment of the future regretting what might have been.

我不知道。不知道我们还要再做什么，才能赢得这场选举。我想把这个问题，留给其他人来思考。每个候选人都会犯错误，我很肯定我也是如此。但是，我不会再花一分钟，对那些可能发生的事情懊恼不已。

This campaign was and will remain the great honor of my life, and my heart is filled with nothing but gratitude for the experience and to the American people for giving me a fair hearing before deciding that Sen. Obama and my old friend Sen. Joe Biden should have the honor of leading us for the next four years.

这场选举已经是、并且将一直是我生命中的莫大光荣。虽然，美国人民最后决定，将未来四年领导美国的光荣使命，交给了奥巴马参议员和我的老朋友拜登参议员，但是对于这段选举的经历，我的心中只有感激。我要感谢美国人民给予我公平的机会，倾听了我的主张。

Tonight -- tonight, more than any night, I hold in my heart nothing but love for this country and for all its citizens, whether they supported me or Sen. Obama -- whether they supported me or Sen. Obama.

今晚，就是在此刻，我的心中比任何一个夜晚都充满了对这个国家和她的全体人民的爱，不管美国人民选择支持我或者奥巴马参议员。

我们绝不会从历史中消失
I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president. And I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to believe, always, in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here.

对于我从前的竞选对手和未来的总统，我表示祝福。就像在竞选中我一再说过的，我呼吁全体美国人民，不要对现在的困难处境感到绝望，我们要永远地对这个国家的前途和伟大抱有信心。

Americans never quit. We never surrender.

美国人民从来不会放弃。我们从不认输。

We never hide from history. We make history.
我们绝不会从历史中消失。我们创造历史。

Thank you, and God bless you, and God bless America . Thank you all very much.

感谢你们。上帝保佑你们。上帝保佑美国。衷心地感谢你们所有人。