又中又英｜Up in the air

Who will become the next US president? That’s up in the air because the election isn’t until November 5th. No one can predict so early what the outcome will be. Most public opinion polls show a neck and neck race, which means an equal chance of winning, between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Some polls show Trump will win. But I have always given little credence to polls because those who participate in political polls are often fickle people. If something is up in the air, it is uncertain or undecided. If you give credence to something, it means you believe it is true.

If you give little credence to something, it means you don’t believe it. Fickle people are those who change their minds suddenly. All polls showed Hillary Clinton would defeat Donald Trump in the 2016 election, but Trump won. It is up in the air who will win in November, but the election will be the most expensive in history. Both Biden and Trump are raising huge amounts of money from donors. Biden’s campaign raised more than US$90 million in March and had US$192 million in cash in the first quarter of this year.

Trump is not raising as much but received US$50 million from wealthy supporters during just one event last week. Biden and Trump will spend much of the donations on an advertising blitz in different states. An advertising blitz is an organized advertising campaign, usually on TV. Both Biden and Trump are expected to use personal attacks and insults in their TV ads. Whose ads will be the dirtiest?

誰會成為下一任美國總統？這還是懸而未決（up in the air），因為大選要到11月5日才舉行。沒有人能這麼早就預測得到選舉結果。大部分公眾民調都顯示出a neck and neck race，意即總統祖‧拜登與前總統唐納德‧特朗普二人旗鼓相當、不相伯仲。一些民調顯示特朗普會勝出。但我總是不大相信（given little credence）民調，因為那些參與政治民調的人往往都是三心二意的人（fickle people）。若某事是up in the air，意即它仍不確定、懸而未決。若你give credence to something，意即你認為它是可信的。

相反，若你give little credence to something，意即你並不相信它。Fickle people是那些變幻無常、突然改變主意的人。在2016年的大選中，全部的民調都顯示出，希拉里‧克林頓會打敗唐納德‧特朗普，最終卻是由特朗普勝出。11月誰會勝出，仍不確定（up in the air），但這次大選就肯定是史上最貴的。拜登和特朗普都從捐款人處籌集經費，拜登的競選活動單在3月募集到超過9000萬美元，而在今年第一季，就收到現金1億9200萬美元。

特朗普的籌款沒有那麼多，但僅僅在上星期的一次活動中，也從富有的支持者那裏收到5000萬美元。拜登和特朗普皆將把大部分的捐款用在不同州分的advertising blitz之中——an  advertising blitz是有策劃的廣告宣傳大戰，通常是投放於電視上。預計拜登和特朗普二人都會在其電視廣告中極盡人身攻擊和侮辱。不知誰的廣告將會是最下流卑鄙的呢？

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Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻