又中又英｜Attack ads

American TV and radio stations and digital platforms are raking it in. They rake it in every four years during presidential elections but are raking it in even more during this election. The slang idiom “rake it in” means to earn a large amount of money in an easy way. Supporters of presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are paying through the nose for attack ads against each other. To pay through the nose means to pay a lot of money for something. An attack ad, as I explained before, is a TV advertisement attacking a political opponent.

American TV stations must charge the lowest available price if candidates place attack ads themselves. But the rule doesn’t apply if groups supporting candidates, known as Political Action Committees, raise donations for attack ads. The political team of Vice President Kamala Harris has raised about US$1 billion (about HK$8 billion) since she entered the race in late July. Some previous presidential candidates have also raised US$1 billion, but not in such a short time. The team of former President Donald Trump raised about US$430 million in the three months between July and September. Harris and Trump’s teams have already spent a lot on campaign ads.

They are still raising money for more ads before the November 5 election. I often see back-to-back attack ads when I watch TV. If something is back-to-back, it means it happens one after another. I sometimes laugh when I see a Trump attack ad followed immediately by a Harris attack ad. Which ad should viewers believe? I read a news article that said many Americans are fed up with attack ads when they watch TV during an election year.

美國的電視台、電台和電子平台現時都大賺特賺（raking it in）。他們在每4年一次的總統大選期間往往都會賺大錢（rake it in），但這一次大選他們更是大撈一把（raking it in）。俚語「rake it in」是指很輕鬆就能賺一大筆錢。總統候選人賀錦麗以及唐納德‧特朗普的支持者都在花大錢（paying through the nose）投放攻擊廣告（attack ads）互相攻擊。To pay through the nose是指去為某事物大灑金錢。An attack ad，正如我之前解釋過的，就是一個攻擊政治對手的電視廣告。

若候選人自行投放攻擊廣告（attack ads），美國電視台只能向其收取最低費用；然而，當支持候選人的團體，就是政治行動委員會，籌集資金去投放攻擊廣告（attack ads）時，這個規定就不適用。自從副總統賀錦麗7月下旬參選以來，她的政治隊伍就籌集了大約10億美元（約80億港元）。之前一些總統候選人都有籌集到10億美元，但並非在這麼短的時間之內。前總統唐納德‧特朗普的隊伍，在7至9月的3個月內，就籌集到大約4億3000萬美元。賀錦麗和特朗普的隊伍都已經在競選廣告上花費甚多。

在11月5日選舉日之前，他們仍然會籌集資金去投放更多的廣告。我看電視的時候就看到back-to-back的攻擊廣告（attack ads）——若某事物是 back-to-back，意即它是連續的、一個接着一個的。當我看到一個特朗普的攻擊廣告（attack ad），然後緊接着就是賀錦麗的攻擊廣告（attack ad）之時，我有時會笑了出來。觀眾應該相信哪一個廣告？我讀過一篇新聞報道指，在選舉年期間，許多美國人都厭煩了在看電視時要看到這些攻擊廣告（attack ads）。

[email protected]
Michael Chugani褚簡寧
中譯：七刻