As Barack Obama celebrates his 50th birthday on Thursday, there is no shortage of things he could wish for. Liberals in his political base see him as a pushover who was outmanoeuvred at every turn in the standoff over the debt ceiling; the US economy appears to be stagnating; and the president’s poll numbers hit an all-time low this week.
当美国总统巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)今天庆祝他50岁生日时，他的许愿一定不会少。他的政治根基中的自由派认为他太容易被打败，在此次债务上限僵局的每个转折点，他都让对手技高一筹；美国经济似乎正陷入停滞；而且本周奥巴马在民调中的支持率降至空前低点。
Some are questioning if the man who sailed into the Oval Office as an agent of change has instead been changed by the ways of Washington. A Pew research poll showed that 72 per cent of US citizens summed up the budget standoff with words like “stupid” and “disgusting”, and a third have come away from the ordeal with a diminished view of Mr Obama.
一些人在质疑，这个当年作为变革推动者入主白宫的人是否已经被华盛顿的行事方式所改变。皮尤(Pew)的一项研究调查显示，72%的美国公民用“愚蠢”和“令人恶心”之类的形容词来总结此次预算僵局，三分之一的受访者因为这次事件对奥巴马的评价有所降低。
His hand seems weakened, not just because his policy objectives were overridden by Republicans in the final agreement to raise the debt ceiling – indeed, most US citizens agree with the president’s call for tax increases, according to the polls – but by the impression that he has failed to lead.
他的掌控能力似乎遭到削弱，表现之一是，在提高债务上限的最终协议中，他的政策目标被共和党否决（实际上，调查显示，多数美国人支持奥巴马增加税收的呼声），但并不仅限于此，他还留给人们一种未能发挥领导作用的印象。