Q-Eng

11月2日火曜日に行われた州知事選挙より、カリフォルニアの州知事に立候補した共産党：元eBay CEOメグ・ホイットマン氏に関する記事から英語を見て行きます。

ピピット来たとこだけを抜粋して、ざっくり説明してあります。

でも、アメリカ政治に関することに興味がある方は、生きた単語を知るいいきっかけになるかもしれないので是非どうぞ。

↓この記事です↓
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/11/03/navarrette.californ...


How Meg Whitman spent a fortune -- and lost

San Diego, California (CNN) － On a day that millions of Americans in other parts of the country turned the electoral map red by electing a sea of Republicans, California voters stayed true blue and kept doing what they usually do on Election Day － elect Democrats.

この文中に出てくるRedとかBlueってなんだか分かりますか?
選挙戦では、アメリカ地図に当選された方を色分けしてどっちが優勢かみていくんだけど、Republican(共和党)はRed、Democrat(民主党)はBlueであらわされます。

選挙に関係なく、州によっては共和党の州とか、民主党の州みたいなのが’あるんで、アメリカで暮らす人は、もしかしたら知っておきたい情報かもしれないですね。ちなみにGirogiaはRedです。


And, in a year where a lot of voters wanted to throw the bums out and get rid of career politicians, Californians － in the headliner contests － rejected a pair of wealthy and former Silicon Valley CEOs in favor of a couple of longtime politicians and party insiders who, between them, have spent more than a half century (58 years) in political office.

career politiciansとかlongtime politiciansは、長年政治家として生きてきた人たちのことです。

in favor of
～に賛成して、支持して


The rest of the country was experiencing a revolution. In California, it was more like a "retro-lution."Familiarity did not necessarily breed contempt. In fact, it helped put a couple of high-profile victories in the Democratic column.

retro-lution、これは、言葉遊びみたいなもんです。retro-lutionとは、revolution(革命)にかけていった言葉で、Retroが指す"古いということ"と、lutionで、革命ならぬ、古いことを推し進める動き(革命)?みたいな感じでしょうか。

Familiarity did not necessarily breed contempt
は元は"Familiarity breeds contempt."という諺から来ています。
親しさは軽蔑を生む。／親しさから軽蔑が生まれる。／なれ過ぎると侮られるようになる。
という訳がアルクの辞書でついていました。
contempt
【名】 軽蔑、侮辱、軽視

なので、Familiarity did not necessarily breed contempt. は ｢親しさが必ずしも軽蔑を生むってこともない。｣という直訳で、本文の意を解すと、｢別に、古いからって、それが必ずしも軽視される必要はない｣という事でしょう。

用は、全国的に民主党に変わって共和党を押していこうという革命の流れがある中、カリフォルニアでは今年も民主党に軍配が上がったからです。


Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, who has been cashing government checks for 34 years －　as a county supervisor, member of the House of Representatives and U.S. senator － narrowly defeated her Republican opponent, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, who electrified the GOP base.


Meanwhile, Democrat Jerry Brown － a former governor who has spent 24 years in politics serving as everything from a community college trustee to mayor of Oakland to attorney general － beat his Republican opponent, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, more handily.

Jerry Brown さんは、Meg Whitman さんのカリフォルニア州知事選のOpponent(競争相手)です。


The California governor's race was always Whitman's to lose. And, sure enough, she lost it － in spectacular fashion. At the beginning, Whitman had at least five things working in her favor. She was battle-tested thanks to a tough primary with a Republican challenger. She had an enormous amount of personal wealth, enough to allow her to spend a whopping $140 million of her own money on the quixotic bid to become chief executive of the Golden State

The California governor's race was always Whitman's to lose.
この文はちょっと困りましたけど、うちの旦那曰く
If she doesn't messed it up, she will win it.
Think about it; If you have something, you can lose it.
She(Whitman) had it(the race) , and only she can lose it. Because she had it(the race) at that point.
つまり、彼女はこのレースを手の内にしていた。手の内にしたものをキープしておくも、失うのも、彼女次第。
カリフォルニア州知事選挙は常にホイットマンの手の内にあった。
と訳していいんじゃないでしょうか。分かるかな～? ＾＾；

in spectacular fashion
型破りなやり方で

At the beginning, Whitman had at least five things working in her favor.
最初は、少なくとも、彼女にとって都合のいいことが　５つあったんです。
参考：http://eow.alc.co.jp/In+One%27s+favor/UTF-8/

whopping
数がとても大きいこと：whopping $140 million ：実に1億400万円もの

Golden State
カリフォルニアのまたの名をGolden Stateと言います。

She was running against a candidate who had taken all sides of so many issues that it wasn't clear which parts of the Democratic base he could count on for support. She was running in a year when, in most places, the Democratic brand was wildly unpopular. And speaking of brands, she was affiliated with one － eBay － that is generally well-respected and elicits a positive response from the public.

So then why did Whitman lose? For one thing, she never connected with voters and that hurt her when the Brown campaign started pushing the message that she was this rich empress who lived in a bubble and couldn't relate to average Californians. For another, she never proved she was up to the job of being governor of the nation's most populous state. Then there was the fact that the unions really delivered for Brown, especially in terms of direct mail -- in both English and Spanish.

In fact, you can't overstate how strategically important it was for the Brown campaign to have so effectively locked up the Latino vote -- by hook or by crook. Some of what happened was truly underhanded.

Lock up
しっかり確保する

by hook or by crook
どんな手段を講じても、どんなことをしても、どんな手段を使ってでも、どうしても、何が何でも、手段を選ばず、何とかして、なんとしてでも、是が非でも、手を変え品を変え

underhanded
ずるい、Sneaky ひきょうな


<span style="color:green">For instance, during the campaign, the California Democratic Party put out a Spanish-language mailer telling Latino voters to vote for Brown for governor because his Republican opponent, Whitman, would keep Latino students out of state colleges and universities.</span>

<span style="color:green">That's not so. Whitman said that she would bar illegal immigrants from state colleges and universities. Someone ought to tell California Democrats that "Latino" and "illegal immigrant" are not synonymous.</span>

In any case, when you have that many assets in your arsenal, your opponent can't defeat you until you give him an opening. And Whitman's gift to the Brown campaign was Nicky Diaz Santillan. Just about six weeks ago, the candidates were tied in the polls, and Whitman was busy trying to market herself as a new kind of Republican -- you might say, a kinder and gentler one to borrow a phrase.

In any case, when you have that many assets in your arsenal, your opponent can't defeat you until you give him an opening.
ここを読む限りホイットマンが負けるはずがなかった事が読み取れます。

Whitman's gift to the Brown campaign was Nicky Diaz Santillan.
ホイットマンからブラウン氏へのギフトとなったのが｢ニッキー｣さんです。
つまり、
皮肉にもブラウン氏の選挙戦の助けになってしまったのが、ホイットマンさんが雇っていた家政婦さんのニッキーさんです。
：このニッキーさんはホイットマンが10年も雇っていた家政婦さんです。


<span style="color:green">But when the news broke that Whitman had, for nearly 10 years, employed an illegal immigrant housekeeper, one whom she just happened to fire before running for governor, voters got a glimpse at a different Whitman. Suddenly, she seemed heartless and mean. When Santillan insisted that Whitman had shouted at her, "You don't know me, and I don't know you" -- a lot of Californians believed her. What they found harder to believe was that Whitman had no idea that Santillan was in the country illegally.</span>
[emo:59023]↑ここでも、有権者が離れていった理由を指す内容がかかれてます。


<span style="color:green">The housekeeper story opened Whitman up like a peanut to questions about her integrity, empathy and honesty. And before it was over, a $140 million personal investment would tank because of a Mexican maid who supposedly earned $23 per hour.</span>

tank
駄目になる

That's how we roll in California, the land of second chances and celebrity makeovers, where anyone can be forgiven for wanting a reality show but where reality can be awfully unforgiving.

That's how we roll in California
Rollには進めるという意味があるので
これがカリフォルニアのやり方(進め方)だ。と訳していいでしょう。


ざっくり説明しましたがどうでしたか?
I want to say thank you to my husband for helping me!!!