The appearance this week of TV ads praising President Bush signaled the beginning of the public battle between Bush and Kerry. In the eight long months from now till November 4, the American public will be bombarded by political advertising. Both camps in the presidential contest will air ads, as will the candidates for 33 Senate seats and all 435 House seats. In addition, there will be issue ads promoting a particular stance in one of the many political controversies (over abortion, the death penalty, gun control, gay marriage, taxes etc.) that divide Americans; these ads also tend to support, even if indirectly, a candidate for the presidency or Congress.

　　Not every voter enjoys the attention; to some it feels too much like psychological assault. Remember that in the US commercials pop up every ten minutes, so an evening of watching the boob tube can expose the hapless viewer to plenty of political solicitation.

　　In today's cartoon David Horsey portrays the assault as more than psychological. "Incoming!" is what soldiers shout when they believe an artillery shell is headed for their position; other soldiers are supposed to dive for cover, as the boy is doing in the cartoon foreground.

　　What are the messages on the TV sets bursting through the roof? Four criticize George Bush: "Bush lied" (probably about the situation in Iraq). "Bush: corporate tool. Vote Kerry!" And, partly obscured at the top of the cartoon, "Bush AWOL." One of the smaller sets says "Bush hates trees" -- an appeal to voters worried about the environment.

　　In favor of Bush we see "Kerry = abortion and gay marriage." Below that is "Kerry: another Massachusetts liberal. Vote for Bush!" (The other Massachusetts liberals would be the widely loathed Senator Edward Kennedy and former Governor Michael Dukakis, whom the elder Bush trounced in 1988.) Another set says "Kerry loves Jane Fonda," the American film star who was a prominent opponent of the US war effort in Vietnam; a visit to Hanoi that she made during the war is still remembered as traitorous by many right-wingers. Difficult to make out in the upper right-hand corner is one of the best jibes: "Kerry looks French." A debatable point, but the man does speak French rather well; it's a skill he'll want to keep under wraps for the next eight months.




美国公众将受到政治广告片的轰炸
　　本周，赞扬美国总统布什的广告片的出现标志着布什与克里之间的公开斗争开始了。从现在到11月4日这8个月当中，美国公众将受到政治广告片的轰炸。共和党与民主党双方阵营在竞选总统的过程中将播出很多广告片，而为竞选33个参议员与435个众议员职位的候选人也将播出广告；此外，还会有就某一有争议的政治话题(有关人工流产、死刑、枪支管制、同性恋婚姻、税收等)宣传其立场的专题广告，而每一个争议都使美国人分成了两派，这些广告片也往往是支持某个总统候选人或议员候选人的，虽说不是很直接地表现出来。

　　并非每一位选民都喜欢这种竞选方式。对有些人来说，这太让人觉得受到了心理上的攻击。请记住，在美国电视节目中，每隔十分钟就会冒出一则广告。因此，看一晚上电视，就会让倒霉的观众忍受大量的政治宣传。

　　在今天的漫画中，漫画家戴维·霍尔西把这场广告轰炸对人们的伤害描绘成不仅仅是心理上的。“快跑！”是当士兵觉得炮弹正向自己飞来时喊出的一句话，其他士兵都会钻到掩体里，正像漫画显著位置上的那个小伙子所做的那样。

　　在那些挤破了屋顶的电视机上出现的都是些什么字句呢？有四个是批评布什的：“布什说谎了”(这大概是指伊拉克的情形)；“布什，大公司的工具，选克里！”在漫画上部被遮住一角的电视上写着“布什擅离职守”；另一个较小的电视上写着“布什仇恨树木”，这是对关心环境的选民的呼吁。在支持布什的广告中我们看到“克里=人工流产和同性恋婚姻”，它下面还有一个：“克里：又一个马萨诸塞州的自由派人士，选布什！”(其他的马萨诸塞州自由派人士应该是指令很多人讨厌的参议员爱德华·肯尼迪和前州长麦克尔·杜卡基斯，他在1988年被老布什打败。有关“马萨诸塞州自由派人士为何招人烦请看上期漫画解读)。另一台电视是“克里爱简·方达”，简·方达是美国电影明星，她是一位反对美国出兵越南的杰出人士，在越战期间她访问了河内，此事至今还被很多右翼人士视做叛国之举。在右上角很难看清的也是讽刺得最妙的一个是“克里长得像法国人。”这一点是有争议的，但是克里的法语说得的确相当好。不过，在今后的8个月当中，他的这项技能是不便公开了。

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