今年美國大選將是史上最昂貴的選戰

Republicans are rapidly eroding the huge funding advantage that propelled Barack Obama into the White House, with wealthy donors flooding new conservative campaign groups with cash ahead of the presidential election in November.

龐大的經費優勢曾助力巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)入主白宮，現在共和黨正在這方面快速趕超。在11月總統大選之前，富有的捐贈者正將大量資金捐給新的保守主義競選團體。

The so-called super-Pac backing Mitt Romney, the Republican frontrunner for the 2012 nomination, raised $30m last year, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission published on Wednesday, with ten individuals and corporations donating $1m each.

根據聯邦選舉委員會(Federal Election Commission)週三公佈的文件，支持2012年總統大選共和黨提名領跑者米特•羅姆尼(Mitt Romney)的所謂“超級政治行動委員會”(super PAC)，去年籌集了3000萬美元，其中10家公司/個人各捐了100萬美元。

Super-Pacs have proliferated in the wake of a 2010 Supreme Court decision allowing political action committees to take unlimited donations from companies and spend them at any time before polling day, as long as they do not co-ordinate with the candidates themselves.

超級政治行動委員會是在2010年美國最高法院(Supreme Court)做出一項裁定後大量產生的。這項裁定允許政治活動委員會無限量接受公司捐贈，並在選舉日之前的任何時間進行花費，只要它們不與候選人本人進行協調。

One conservative campaign group co-founded by Karl Rove, former adviser to George W. Bush, which includes a super-Pac, raised $51m by the end of 2011, raking in $7m in two donations from a single Texas businessman, Harold SimMons.

由喬治•W•布什(George W. Bush)前顧問卡爾•羅夫(Karl Rove)聯合創立的一個保守主義競選團體，就包含了一個超級政治行動委員會，該委員會截至2011年底籌集了5100萬美元，其中德克薩斯州商人哈羅德•西蒙斯(Harold Simmons)一人的兩筆捐款就達到700萬美元。

By contrast, the super-Pac supporting Mr Obama, co-founded by the president's former deputy press secretary, Bill Burton, had raised only $4.4m by the end of last year.

與此形成反差的是，支持奧巴馬的超級政治行動委員會截至去年底僅籌集了440萬美元，它是由總統的前副新聞祕書比爾•伯頓(Bill Burton)聯合創立的。

Because of the influence of the super-Pacs, and the likelihood that neither candidate will accept public funding — which would limit their spending — the 2012 election will be by far the most expensive presidential race in history, with total campaign outlays expected to top $2bn-3bn.

鑑於超級政治行動委員會的影響力，以及兩名候選人可能都不會接受公共資金（那會限制他們的支出），2012年總統大選將是史上遙遙領先的最昂貴競選，總競選費用預計高達20億-30億美元。Mr Obama raised far more campaign contributions than John McCain in 2008, which allowed him to spend a record amount on advertising attacking his Republican opponent.

2008年，奧巴馬獲得的競選捐贈遠遠高於約翰•麥凱恩(John McCain)，這使他能夠在競選廣告上花費創紀錄的資金，攻擊他的共和黨競選對手。

He maintains a well-funded political machine for November's election. His campaign, for which donations are capped at $2,500, had raised $125m by the end of the year, far head of Mr Romney's $56m.

對於今年11月的大選，他仍然擁有一個資金充足的政治機器。截至去年底，奧巴馬的競選團隊已經籌集了1.25億美元（單筆捐贈上限爲2500美元），遠遠超過羅姆尼的5600萬美元。

But the rise of the super-Pacs and other third party groups — some of which do not have to declare their donors — could put Republicans on par with the president in terms of overall campaign funding.

但超級政治行動委員會和其他第三方團體的崛起——其中一些不必公佈捐贈者——可能使共和黨在競選資金總額上與總統分庭抗禮。

So far, the Republican super-Pacs have been spending their funds to attack each other in the party's primaries, with the pro-Romney group leading the way.

到目前爲止，共和黨的超級政治行動委員會一直將資金花費在黨內初選的互相攻擊上，支持羅姆尼的超級政治行動委員會在這方面尤爲積極。

The Romney super-Pac spent an estimated $10m, most of it in the last ten days, ahead of the Florida primary on Tuesday, helping the former Massachusetts governor to a handsome win over Newt Gingrich, the chief target of the group's attack ads.

支持羅姆尼的超級政治行動委員會估計花費了1000萬美元，大部分是在過去10天內爲迎接週二佛羅里達州的初選而支出的，結果這些花銷幫助馬薩諸塞州前州長大勝紐特•金裏奇(Newt Gingrich)，金裏奇是該團體攻擊廣告的主要目標。

Among the $1m donors supporting Mr Romney were prominent members of the hedge fund industry, including Paul Singer, Julian Robertson and John Paulson, as well as the candidate's former colleagues from the private equity firm he co-founded, Bain Capital.

在捐贈100萬美元的羅姆尼支持者中，有對衝基金業的顯要人士，包括保羅•辛格(Paul Singer)、朱利安•羅伯遜(Julian Robertson)、約翰•保爾森(John Paulson)以及羅姆尼聯合創立的私人股本公司貝恩資本(Bain Capital)的前同事。

Mr Rove's Crossroads group aims to raise more than $200m before November's election to spend against Mr Obama and Democratic candidates for Congress. Most of its donors, however, have not been declared as $33m of the $51m was donated to a body established under the tax code, Crossroads GPS, that does not require disclosure. American Crossroads, Mr Rove's super-Pac, raised $18m.

羅夫的“十字路口”(Crossroads)團體力求在11月大選之前籌集2億美元以上，用以對付奧巴馬及民主黨的國會議員競選人。由於所籌集的5100萬美元中的3300萬美元是捐給根據稅法成立的機構Crossroads GPS（不要求信息披露），其大部分捐贈者沒有公開。羅夫的超級政治行動委員會——美國十字路口(American Crossroads)則籌集了1800萬美元。

譯者:方舟