So this was a long and hard-fought campaign. A lot of ourfellow Americans are exultant today. A lot of Americans are lessso. But that's the nature of campaigns. That's the nature ofdemocracy. It is hard, and sometimes contentious and noisy, andit's not always inspiring.
这是一个漫长而艰辛的选举，许多美国人在今天意气风发，还有许多美国人则没那么激动。但这就是竞选的本质，这就是民主政治的本质。这是艰难的，有时还是富有争议且喧闹的，竞选并不永远是激动人心的。
But to the young people who got into politics for the firsttime, and may be disappointed by the results, I just want you toknow, you have to stay encouraged. Don’t get cynical. Don’t everthink you can’t make a difference. As Secretary Clinton said thismorning, fighting for what is right is worth it.
但对那些第一次参与政治且可能对结果感到失望的年轻人，我只想你们知道，你们一定要保持信心。不要怀疑，永远不要认为你们不能有所作为。正如国务卿希拉里今天上午所说，为正确的事物而战是值得的。
Sometimes you lose an argument. Sometimes you lose anelection. The path that this country has taken has never been astraight line. We zig and zag, and sometimes we move in ways thatsome people think is forward and others think is moving back. Andthat's okay. I’ve lost elections before. Joe hasn't. (Laughter.)But you know.(The Vice President blesses himself.) (Laughter.)SoI've been sort of --
有时你输掉的是一场辩论，有时你则输掉一场选举。要知道，这个国家所选择的道路从来不是笔直的，我们在曲折中前进，有时一些人认为我们在进步而另一些则认为我们在倒退。但这也没什么，我曾经也在选举中失利过。副总统拜登没输过。不过，你知道。所以，我可以确定——
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Remember, you beat me badly.(Laughter.)
(副总统乔·拜登：记住，你那时候可是完败了我。)
That’s the way politics works sometimes. We try really hard topersuade people that we’re right. And then people vote. And then ifwe lose, we learn from our mistakes, we do some reflection, we lickour wounds, we brush ourselves off, we get back in the arena. We goat it. We try even harder the next time.
政治有时候就是这个套路。我们想方设法让人民觉得我们是对的。然后大家投票。如果我们输了就从失败中汲取教训，反思回顾，舔舐伤口，抛掉过去，重回竞技场。我们定下目标，下次会更努力。
The point, though, is, is that we all go forward, with apresumption of good faith in our fellow citizens -- because thatpresumption of good faith is essential to a vibrant and functioningdemocracy. That's how this country has moved forward for 240 years.It’s how we’ve pushed boundaries and promoted freedom around theworld. That's how we've expanded the rights of our founding toreach all of our citizens. It’s how we have come this far.
重点是我们都需要怀揣着对我们公民好的信念——因为对好信念的憧憬是激发和推动民主的精髓，也是这个国家在240多年的历史中前行的原因，也是我们在世界范围内不断冲破阻碍宣扬自由的方式。这是我们在建国之初赋予每一个公民的权利基础上不断进行权利扩充的方式。这是我们一路走来的原因。
And that's why I'm confident that this incredible journey thatwe're on as Americans will go on. And I am looking forward to doingeverything that I can to make sure that the next President issuccessful in that. I have said before, I think of this job asbeing a relay runner -- you take the baton, you run your best race,and hopefully, by the time you hand it off you're a little furtherahead, you've made a little progress. And I can say that we've donethat, and I want to make sure that handoff is well-executed,because ultimately we're all on the same team.
这也是我对美国会继续这段不可思议的旅途充满信心的原因。我很期待尽己所能在未来协助新总统在这段旅途中取得成功。我以前说过，我在这份工作中是一位接力赛选手—你接过接力棒，在赛跑中竭尽全力，怀着希望在转交接力棒的时候可以处于一个比较靠前的位置，你自己在这场比赛中取得了一些进步。现在我可以说我们做到了，并且我希望转交过程可以顺利执行，因为最终我们参与的是同一场比赛。
All right? Thank you very much, everybody. (Applause.)
非常感谢你们每一个人。
