They like Rudy and Barack. They worry most about Iraq, and over half think the country's on the wrong track. They are liberal, but not always.

他們支持朱良尼和巴拉克。他們最擔心伊拉克問題，同時有逾半年輕選民認為，美國走上錯誤的路。他們是自由派，但並非始終如一。

We speak of 18- to 24-year-olds, a group that's worn many labels. Some call them "Generation Y" because they're younger than Generation X. They've been named "Generation 9/11" for obvious reasons. My favorite tag is "Millennials," because of its historic sweep. The last Millennial Generation lived in the year 1000, when the Vikings were ravaging the British Isles.

所謂年輕選民指18到24歲的族群，他們被貼上很多標籤，有人叫他們「Ｙ世代」，因為他們比Ｘ世代年輕。也有人叫他們「9/11世代」，理由不言而喻。我個人偏愛「千禧年世代」，主要是由於它的歷史視野和廣度。上個千禧年世代出現在公元一千年，當時北歐海盜正在英倫各島出沒劫掠。

A big political question about this group is: How will they vote The bigger one is: Will they vote It's hard to gauge these folks because so many rely on cell phones, which may not be used for polling. On the other hand, they're easy to reach on the Internet.

這個族群的一大政治問題是：他們將如何投票？更大的問題是：他們會投票嗎？這群人很難捉摸，因為很多人是手機族，民調將他們排除在外。但另一方面，從網路上很容易和他們接上頭。

Democrats have long pursued the so-called youth vote. Their perennial hope has been that young people, who are traditionally liberal, would march to the polls in greater numbers. But they usually wake up the first Wednesday in November realizing that their Great White Whale had overslept once again.

民主黨人長期拉攏所謂年輕選民，他們長期希望那些傳統上以自由派自居的年輕人，願意踴躍投票。但他們在十一月第一個星期三醒來，往往發現，他們的「大白鯨」又睡過頭了。

When the voting age was dropped to 18 in 1972, all hailed a new era for youthful involvement in our democracy. The reality is that over the last 35 years, the youngest group's participation in elections has steadily dropped.

當1972年，投票年齡降到18歲時，所有人交相稱讚，這是年輕人參與民主政治的新紀元，實則，過去35年來，最年輕族群投入選舉的比率逐年降低。

Democrats detected a sign of life in 2004, when the Millennials' turnout rose to 47 percent from 36 percent in 2000. But the Bush-Kerry match excited more of everyone. In the end, young people's share of the electorate remained at 17 percent, unchanged from 2000.

民主黨人在2004年嗅出一股生命的跡象，當時「千禧年世代」投票率從2000年的36%上升至47%。但〔共和黨的〕布希和〔民主黨的〕柯瑞捉對廝殺，激勵更多人，最後，年輕選民仍只占全體選民的17%，和2000年一樣。

A surge in college voters in 2006 is said to have delivered victory to Democrats Sens. Jon Tester of Montana and Jim Webb of Virginia. But others give the credit to single women.

2006年大學選民激增，據說是促成同為民主黨的蒙大拿州參議員泰斯特和維吉尼亞州參議員韋布勝選的原因，但另有人指應歸功於單身女性選民。

A new Pew Research Center survey touches on the apparent lack of political knowledge among Millennials. Its objective was to test whether Americans are more or less informed about current affairs than they were in 1989. The conclusion is that they know about as little now as they did then.

Pew研究中心一項新的調查提及，千禧年世代顯然缺乏政治認知，其目的是測試美國人是否比1989年多少吸收更多時事資訊。結論是不管當時或現在，他們均所知有限。

The survey did compare age groups, and the 18- to 29-year-olds did far worse than the others. Only 15 percent had a "high knowledge" of current affairs, and 59 percent had "low knowledge." The remaining 29 percent were in the middle.

這項調查也比較不同的年齡層，結果18到29歲這個年齡層，表現遠比其他年齡層遜色，只有15%「高度了解」時事，而有59%「低度了解」時事，其餘29%介於兩者之間。

These weren't trick questions about the president of Pakistan. Only 26 percent of respondents in the youngest group knew that the Sunnis are one of the two main branches of Islam, the other being the Shiites. Only 55 percent could name their governor.

這些可不是有關巴基斯坦總統等冷僻的題目，但接受調查的最年輕族群，只有26%知道，遜尼派是伊斯蘭兩大派系之一，另一個是什葉派。另外，只有55%知道他們州長的名字。

Another recent survey, from Harvard's Institute of Politics, attempts to assess the political attitudes of the 29 million Americans age 18 and to 24. It finds that 35 percent identify with Democrats and 25 percent with Republicans, but 40 percent with neither.

哈佛政策研究中心最近另一項調查，試圖評估18至24歲的2千900萬美國人的政治取向，結果發現，35%認同民主黨人，25%認同共和黨人，40%無法認同任一黨。

The Millennials sound liberal but feel independent. If push comes to shove, they'd probably be Democratic voters, were they to vote.

「千禧年世代」看似自由派但感覺很獨立，如果實在逼不得已，當他們投票時，可能會投民主黨一票。

Stand aside, Boomers and Xers, the Harvard report declares, "The Millennial Generation is preparing in 2008 to make their voice heard again, perhaps louder than ever." We shall see.

哈佛的報告宣稱，嬰兒潮世代和Ｘ世代這次選舉都要靠邊站，「千禧年世代正準備在2008年大鳴大放。」我們且拭目以待。

《詞解》
tag 標籤
Millennials 千禧年世代
sweep 視野、廣度
Vikings 北歐海盜
ravaging 出沒劫掠
perennial 長期
turnout 投票率
electorate 全體選民
trick questions 冷僻的題目
Sunnis 遜尼派
Shiites 什葉派
If push comes to shove 如果逼不得已
Boomers 嬰兒潮世代