拜登发表“一辈子都在准备”的演讲（附英文视频及演讲稿）

美国民主党大会收官夜：拜登发表“一辈子都在准备”的演讲

（转自澎湃新闻 ）

美国东部时间8月20日晚，为期四天的民主党全国大会落下帷幕，美国前副总统拜登在家乡特拉华州威尔明顿的会议中心大通中心（Chase Center）正式接受民主党总统候选人提名。这是他近50年政治生涯中第3次竞选总统，也是首次获得党内提名。

据《纽约时报》20日报道，当被问及拜登为当日的出场准备了多长时间时，拜登的盟友、弗吉尼亚州前州长特里·麦考利夫（Terry McAuliffe）说，“一辈子都在准备”。

在大通中心外的停车场，一些拜登支持者驱车从特拉华州、新泽西州等地齐聚在此。他们透过汽车天窗挥舞支持拜登的旗帜，并通过转播屏幕见证拜登发表提名演讲的重要时刻。

拜登的支持者庆祝拜登接受总统候选人提名  视频截图

拜登：美国正处于四场“危机风暴”之中

民主党大会收官之夜，参与者所讨论的话题基本上延续了大会前三晚涉及的核心议题，包括气候变暖、经济危机、种族平等、新冠疫情等。拜登在接受党内总统候选人提名之后，针对上述议题提出的行动计划无疑成为本次大会的焦点。

据CNN 20日报道，拜登在演讲中表示，美国正处于四场紧迫的“危机风暴”之中——新冠疫情的蔓延、日益严重的经济危机、实现种族正义的疾呼以及气候变化的威胁。尽管当前局势动荡不安，但美国有能力度过这些危机。

此外，拜登提醒选民，如果特朗普再次当选总统，“他就会像过去四年那样”。他反问美国民众，“这就是你、你的家庭、你的孩子想要的美国吗？”拜登补充说，若特朗普当选，“他每天醒来都会相信这份工作是关于他自己的，而不是关于你的。” 对此，拜登表态将与美国民众一起重建一个“慷慨、坚强、无私、谦逊”的美国。

首要任务：控制疫情

自今年4月美国成为全球新冠疫情的新“震中”，再到当前美国的新冠感染和死亡人数位居全球第一，这场突如其来危机对美国社会造成了破坏性的影响，这也使得两党的抗击疫情计划成为2020年大选民众关注的焦点。

拜登表示，“抗击疫情是我们一开始就应该做的事情”，并指责特朗普“未能履行总统的基本责任，以保护美国人免受病毒侵害”，“特朗普的行为是不可原谅的”。

拜登随后公布了其抗疫计划。据CNN报道，拜登计划强化对新冠病毒的检测力度，并加大生产个人防护设备，以此避免过度依赖其他国家的抗疫技术和物资。拜登还承诺要让美国民众都戴口罩。

拜登在民主党大会上发表演讲  视频截图

“为整个国家的灵魂而战”

拜登在当晚的讲话中阐述了在其他方面的施政理念。他的经济计划以“重建更好的经济”为主题，计划采取刺激性经济政策，在清洁能源和制造业领域创造更多的工作机会。

在外交关系方面，针对曾陷入“通俄门”的特朗普，拜登承诺将对俄罗斯保持强硬，并指责特朗普对“俄罗斯悬赏杀死美军”的传言无动于衷。此外，在更广泛的对外关系上，拜登称美国将一如既往地“捍卫我们的人权和价值观”，“为实现一个更加安全、和平与繁荣的世界而共同努力”。

针对美国社会愈演愈烈反种族歧视抗议，拜登在当晚的演讲中抨击了特朗普的“白人至上”的种族主义言论。他说，“在这个黑暗的时刻，我相信我们将取得巨大进展，我们将再次找到光明。”

在演讲中，拜登提到了美国黑人乔治·弗洛伊德之死，以及著名的黑人民权运动领袖约翰·刘易斯逝世，并称他们的离开是美国历史的转折点，表明美国已经准备放下种族仇恨的负担，致力于铲除社会中根深蒂固的种族主义。拜登强调称：“我们必须为整个国家的灵魂而战。”

力争党内团结

当晚的大会继续展现民主党党内的团结。拜登赞扬了民主党副总统候选人、加州参议员卡玛拉·哈里斯，肯定了她多元的种族背景，以及她“克服遇到过的每一个障碍”的毅力。20日晚，哈里斯成为美国历史上第一位获得副总统提名的黑人和亚裔女性。

拜登、哈里斯及两人的配偶在民主党大会上 视频截图

据美国消费者新闻与商业频道（CNBC）20日报道，出席当晚活动的民主党人中包括曾参与党内初选的印第安纳州南本德市前市长皮特·布蒂吉格（Pete Buttigieg）、企业家杨安泽（Andrew M. Yang）等人。分析称，他们愿调和党内分歧，拜登认为这些务实的政治人士能够吸引一批独立选民和蓝领民主党人，最终帮助其赢得大选。在前几日的大会中，曾与拜登争夺候选人提名的佛蒙特州联邦参议员伯尼·桑德斯、马萨诸塞州联邦参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦也发表讲话支持拜登。

此外，拜登50岁的儿子亨特·拜登（Hunter Biden）和39岁的女儿艾什莉·拜登（Ashley Biden）也在当晚大会中同屏亮相。据美国政治新闻网站Politico 20日报道，亨特长期以来都是特朗普竞选连任的重点攻击对象。特朗普将亨特描述为“腐败者”，指责其在其父任副总统期间以公谋私。对此，桑德斯在20日接受Politico采访时说，“特朗普团队‘老调重弹’，因为他根本没有任何证据作为支撑”。

线上大会成效几何？

CNBC 20日报道称，从历史上看，美国两党的总统候选人都希望借助全国大会来提升其民意支持率。但受到疫情的影响，本次大会的形式首次从往年的线下搬到了线上。与2016年民主党全国大会相比，今年的传统电视观众减少了约25%。但也有民主党人士表示，本周的在线观众人数已经弥补了有线电视收视率的下降。

面对从线下到线上这一突如其来的形式转变，民主党人用尽“浑身解数”，试图向观众展现出一个团结、包容、试图改变美国现状的民主党形象——他们邀请前总统奥巴马、克林顿，前国务卿希拉里等重量级政要“坐镇”；努力凝聚拜登的党内初选竞争对手桑德斯、沃伦等进步派力量；甚至还拉拢了约翰·卡西奇、科林·鲍威尔等共和党人的支持。

与此同时，民主党人不遗余力地“炮轰”特朗普政府应对疫情不力、煽动国内种族冲突、破坏了美国引以为傲的民主体制。当然，他们也给出了帮助美国度过这场危机的“解药”——拜登和哈里斯是能“带领美国民众走出黑暗的人”。

在21日晚拜登演讲结束后，特朗普随即在推特上发文称，“47年来，拜登没有做他现在所说的任何事情。他将永远不会改变，只是说说而已！” 特朗普还在接受福克斯新闻采访时表示，他将派执法人员在大选日前往投票地点，以防止选民欺诈。此外，共和党政治战略家罗恩·克里斯蒂（Ron Christie）在接受BBC采访时表示，在下周的共和党全国大会上，他们将就拜登的弱点展开攻击，并公布特朗普政府在抗击疫情、复兴经济以及应对社会动荡方面的计划。

随着两党召开代表大会，美国2020年大选的竞争已进入白热化阶段。CNN最新民调数据显示，截至8月17日，拜登以51%的支持率暂时领先特朗普的42%。民主党大会这场精致的“政治大秀”效果如何，拜登是否成功获得了更多选民的支持，有待时间的验证。下周共和党大会上，蓄势待发的共和党人如何“见招拆招”，积压了一周怒火的特朗普又将爆出哪些“金句”？一场新的“风暴”即将来临。

英文视频：拜登2020年民主党全国代表大会演讲

（转自英语Pro 公众号）

Joe Biden’s Speech to the 2020 Democratic National Convention

August 21, 2020

Good evening.

Ella Baker, a giant of the Civil Rights Movement, left us with this wisdom: Give people light and they will find a way.

Give people light.

Those are words for our time.

The current president has cloaked America in darkness for much too long. Too much anger. Too much fear. Too much division.

Here and now, I give you my word: If you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best of us, not the worst. I will be an ally of the light, not the darkness.

It’s time for us, for we the people, to come together.

And make no mistake: United, we can and will overcome this season of darkness in America. We will choose hope over fear, facts over fiction, fairness over privilege.

I’m a proud Democrat and I’ll be proud to carry the banner of our party into the general election. 

So it’s a great honor and humility I accept this nomination for President of the United States of America.

But while I will be a Democratic candidate, I will be an American president. I’ll work hard for those who didn’t support me – as hard for them as I did for those who did vote for me.

That’s the job of a president. To represent all of us, not just our base or our party. This is not a partisan moment. This must be an American moment.

It’s a moment that calls for hope and light and love. Hope for our future, light to see our way forward, and love for one another.

America isn’t just a collection of clashing interests of Red States or Blue States.

We’re so much bigger than that.

We’re so much better than that.

Now, nearly a century ago, Franklin Roosevelt pledged a New Deal in a time of massive unemployment, uncertainty, and fear.

Stricken by disease, stricken by a virus, FDR insisted that he would recover and prevail and he believed America could as well.

And he did. And we can as well.

This campaign isn’t just about winning votes. It’s about winning the heart, and yes, the soul of America.

Winning it for the generous among us, not the selfish. Winning it for the workers who keep this country going, not just the privileged few at the top. Winning it for those communities who have known the injustice of the “knee on the neck”. For all the young people who have known only an America being…of rising inequity and shrinking opportunity.

They deserve the experience of America’s promise. They deserve to experience it in full.

You know, no generation ever knows what history will ask of it. All we can ever know is whether we’ll be ready when that moment arrives.

And now history has delivered us to one of the most difficult moments America has ever faced.

Four…four historic crises. All at the same time. A perfect storm.

The worst pandemic in over 100 years. The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The most compelling call for racial justice since the 60’s. And the undeniable realities and just accelerating threats of climate change.

So the question for us is simple: Are we ready?

I believe we are. We must be.

You know, all elections are important. But we know in our bones this one is more consequential.

As many have said, America is at an inflection point. A time of real peril, but also of extraordinary possibilities.

We can choose a path of becoming angrier, less hopeful, more divided. A path of shadow and suspicion. Or…or we can choose a different path, and together, take this chance to heal, to reform, to unite. A path of hope and light.

This is a life-changing election. This will determine what America is going to look like for a long, long time.

Character is on the ballot. Compassion is on the ballot. Decency, science, democracy, they are all on the ballot.

Who we are as a nation. What we stand for. Most importantly, who we want to be. That’s all on the ballot.

And the choice could not be more clear. No rhetoric is needed. Just judge this president on the facts:

5 million Americans infected by COVID-19.

More than 170,000 Americans have died.

By far, the worst performance of any nation on Earth.

More than 50 million people have filed for unemployment this year.

More than 10 million people are going to lose their health insurance this year.

Nearly one in 6 small businesses have closed this year.

And this president, if he is re-elected, you know what will happen.

Cases and deaths will remain far too high.

More mom and pop businesses will close their doors, and this time, for good.

Working families will struggle to get by, and yet, the wealthiest one percent will get tens of billions of dollars in new tax breaks.

And the assault on the Affordable Care Act will continue until it’s destroyed, taking insurance away from more than 20 million people, including more than 15 million people on Medicaid, and getting rid of the protections that President Obama worked so hard to get passed for people who have…100 million more people who have pre-existing conditions.

And speaking of President Obama, a man I was honored to serve alongside for 8 years as Vice President. Let me take this moment to say something we don’t say nearly enough.

Thank you, Mr. President. You were a great president. A president our children could – and did – look up to.

No one is going to say that about the current occupant of the White House.

What we know about this president is if he’s given four more years, he will be what he’s been the last four years. A president who takes no responsibility, refuses to lead, blames others, cozies up to dictators, and fans the flames of hate and division. He will wake up every day believing the job is all about him, never about you.

Is that the America you want for you, your family, your children?

I see a different America. One that is generous and strong, selfless and humble. It’s an America we can rebuild together.

As president, the first step I will take will be to get control of the virus that’s ruined so many lives. Because I understand something this president hasn’t from the beginning.

We will never get our economy back on track, we will never get our kids safely back in schools, we will never have our lives back, until we deal with this virus.

The tragedy of where we are today is it didn’t have to be this bad.

Just look around.

It’s not this bad in Canada, or Europe, or Japan, or almost anywhere else in the world.

And the president keeps telling us the virus is going to disappear. He keeps waiting for a miracle. Well, I have news for him, no miracle is coming.

We lead the world in confirmed cases. We lead the world in deaths.

Our economy is in tatters, with Black, Latino, Asian American, Native American communities bearing the brunt of it.

And after all this time, the president still does not have a plan.

Well, I do.

If I’m your president, on Day One, we’ll implement the national strategy I’ve been laying out since March.

We’ll develop and deploy rapid tests with results available immediately.

We’ll make the medical supplies and protective equipment that our country needs. And we’ll make them here in America. So we will never again be at the mercy of China or other foreign countries in order to protect our own people.

We’ll make sure our schools have the resources they need to be open, safe, and effective.

We’ll put politics aside. We’ll take the muzzle off our experts so the public gets the information they need and deserve – honest, unvarnished truth. They can handle it.

We’ll have a national mandate to wear a mask – not as a burden, but as a patriotic duty to protect one another.

In short, we’ll do what we should have done from the very beginning.

Our current president has failed in his most basic duty to the nation.

He’s failed to protect us.

He’s failed to protect America.

And, my fellow Americans, that is unforgivable.

As president, I’ll make you a promise: I will protect America. I will defend us from every attack – seen and unseen, always, without exception, every time.

Look, I understand…I understand how hard it is to have any hope right now.

On this summer night, let me take a moment to speak to those of you who have lost the most.

I have some idea how it feels to lose someone you love. I know that deep black hole that opens up in the middle of your chest and you feel like you’re being sucked into it. I know how mean and cruel and unfair life can be sometimes.

But I’ve learned two things.

First, your loved ones may have left this Earth, but they’ll never leave your heart. They’ll always be with you; you’ll always hear them. And second, I found the best way through pain and loss and grief is to find purpose.

As God’s children, each of us have a purpose in our lives. We have a great purpose as a nation: To open the doors of opportunity to all Americans. To save our democracy. To be a light to the world once again. And finally, to live up to and make real the words written in the sacred documents that founded this nation that all men and women are created equal; endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

You know, my dad was an honorable, decent man. He got knocked down a few times pretty hard, but he always got back up. He worked hard and he built a great middle-class life for our family. He used to say, “Joey, I don’t expect the government to solve my problems, but I sure as hell expect them to understand them.” And then he said: “Joey, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It’s about your dignity. It’s about respect. It’s about your place in the community. It’s about being able to look your kids in the eye and say, ‘honey, it’s going to be okay,’ and mean it.” I’ve never forgotten those lessons.

That’s why my economic plan is all about jobs, dignity, respect, and community. Together, we can and will rebuild our economy. And when we do, we’ll not only build back, we’ll build back better.

With modern roads, bridges, highways, broadband, ports and airports as a new foundation for economic growth. 

With pipes that transport clean water to every community. 

With 5 million new manufacturing and technology jobs so the future is made in America. 

With a health care system that lowers premiums, deductibles, drug prices by building on the Affordable Care Act he’s trying to rip away.

With an education system that trains our people for the best jobs of the 21st century – there’s not a single thing American workers can’t do – and where cost doesn’t prevent young people from going to college, and student debt doesn’t crush them when they get out.

With a child care and elder care system that makes it possible for parents to go to work and for the elderly to stay in their homes with dignity. 

With an immigration system that powers our economy and reflects our values. 

And with newly empowered labor unions. They’re the ones that built the middle class.

With equal pay for women. With rising wages, you can raise a child on, a family on. 

And yes, we’re going to do more than praise our essential workers. We’re finally going to pay them, pay them.

We can, and we will, deal with climate change. It’s not only a crisis, it’s an enormous opportunity – an opportunity for America to lead the world in clean energy and create millions of new good-paying jobs in the process.

And we can pay for these investments by ending loopholes – unnecessary loopholes, and the president’s $1.3 trillion tax giveaway to the wealthiest 1 percent and the biggest, most profitable corporations, some of which do not pay any tax at all.

Because we don’t need a tax code that rewards wealth more than it rewards work. I’m not looking to punish anyone, far from it, but it’s long past time the wealthiest people and the biggest corporations in this country paid their fair share.

And for our seniors, Social Security is a sacred obligation, a sacred promise made, they paid for. The current president is threatening to break that promise. He’s proposing to eliminate a tax that pays for almost half of the Social Security without any way of making up for that lost revenue, resulting in cuts.

I will not let that happen. If I’m your president, we’re going to protect Social Security and Medicare. You have my word.

One of the most powerful voices we hear in the country today is from our young people. They’re speaking to the inequity and injustice that has grown up in America: economic injustice, racial injustice, environmental injustice.

I hear their voices. If you listen, you can hear them, too. And whether it’s the existential threat posed by climate change, the daily fear of being gunned down in school, or the inability to get started in their first job, it will be the work of the next president to restore the promise of America to everyone.

And I’m not going to have to do it alone because I’ll have a great Vice President at my side – Senator Kamala Harris. She is a powerful voice for this nation. Her story is the American story. She knows about all the obstacles thrown in the way of so many in our country: women, Black women, Black Americans, South Asian Americans, immigrants, the left-out and the left-behind.

But she’s overcome every obstacle she’s ever faced. No one’s been tougher on the big banks and the gun lobby. No one’s been tougher in calling out the current administration for its extremism, its failure to follow the law, its failure to simply tell the truth.

Kamala and I both draw from our families – that’s where we get our strength. For Kamala, it’s Doug and their families. For me, it’s Jill and ours.

I’ve said many times: No man deserves one great love in his life, let alone two, but I’ve known two. After losing my first wife in that car accident, Jill came into my life. She put our family back together. She’s an educator, a mom, a military mom, an unstoppable force. If she puts her mind to it, just get out of the way. She’s going to get it done. She was a great Second Lady, and I know she’ll make a great First Lady for this nation. She loves this country so much.

And I’ll always have the strength that can only come from family. Hunter, Ashley, all our grandchildren, my brothers, my sister. They give me courage; they lift me up. While he’s no longer with us, Beau inspires me every day. Beau served our nation in uniform, a year in Iraq, a decorated Iraqi war veteran. So I take very personally and I’ve the profound responsibility of serving as Commander-in-Chief.

I’ll be a president who’ll stand with our allies and friends and make it clear to our adversaries the days of cozying up to dictators is over. 

Under President Biden, America will not turn a blind eye to Russian bounties on the heads of American soldiers. Nor will I put up with foreign interference in our most sacred democratic exercise – voting.

And I’ll always stand for our values of human rights and dignity. I’ll work in common purpose for a more secure, peaceful, and prosperous world.

History…history has thrust one more urgent task on us. Will we be the generation that finally wipes out the stain of racism from our national character?

I believe we’re up to it.

I believe we’re ready.

Just a week ago yesterday was the third anniversary of the events in Charlottesville. Close your eyes, remember what you saw on television. 

Remember seeing those neo-Nazis and Klansmen and white supremacists coming out of fields with lighted torches, veins bulging, spewing the same anti-Semitic bile heard across Europe in the ‘30s?

Remember the violent clash that ensued between those spreading hate and those with the courage to stand against it?

And remember what the president said when asked? He said there were, quote, “very fine people on both sides.” It was a wake-up call for us as a country, and for me, a call to action. At that moment, I knew I’d have to run, as my father taught us that silence was complicity. And I can never remain silent or complicit.

At the time, I said we were in a battle for the soul of this nation. And we are. 

You know, one of the most important conversations I’ve had this entire campaign – it was with someone who is much too young to vote. I met with six-year-old Gianna Floyd, the day before her daddy, George Floyd, was laid to rest. She’s an incredibly brave, little girl.

And I’ll never forget it. When I leaned down to speak to her, she looked into my eyes and she said, and I quote, “Daddy changed the world. Daddy changed the world.” Her words burrowed deep into my heart. Maybe George Floyd’s murder was the breaking point. Maybe John Lewis’ passing, the inspiration. But however it has come to be, however it’s happened, America is ready, in John’s words, to lay down, quote, “the heavy burden of hate at last,” and to end the hard work of rooting out our systemic racism.

You know, American history tells us that it has been in our darkest moments that we’ve made our greatest progress; that we’ve found the light. In this dark moment, I believe we are poised to make great progress again; that we can find the light once more. 

You know, many people have heard me say this, but I’ve always believed you can define America in one word: possibilities – the defining feature of America – everything is possible.

That in America, everyone, and I mean, everyone, should be given an opportunity to go as far as their dreams and God-given ability will take them. We can never lose that. In times as challenging as these, I believe there’s only one way forward: as a united America, a united America, united in our pursuit of a more perfect union, united in our dreams of a better future for us and for our children, united in our determination to make the coming years bright.

Are you ready? 

I believe we are. 

This is a great nation. 

We’re a good and decent people. 

For Lord’s sake, this is the United States of America. 

And there’s never been anything we’ve been unable to accomplish when we’ve done it together.

The Irish poet Seamus Heaney once wrote, 

“History says, 

Don’t hope on this side of the grave, 

But then, once in a lifetime, 

The longed-for tidal wave

Of justice can rise up, 

And hope and history rhyme.” 

This is our moment to make hope and history rhyme.

With passion and purpose, let us begin – you and I together, one nation, under God – united in our love for America, united in our love for each other. 

For love is more powerful than hate.

Hope is more powerful than fear.

And light is more powerful than dark. 

This is our moment. 

This is our mission. 

May history be able to say that the end of this chapter of American darkness begin here tonight as love and hope and light join in the battle for the soul of the nation. 

And this is a battle we will win, and we’ll do it together. 

I promise you.

Thank you.

And may God bless you.

And may God protect our troops.

（转自 环球网 公众号）

推荐阅读：

北大教授：人教教材培训 现在的教育让每个人在每个时刻都处于竞争之中