竞选团队还要尝试预测出所有可能出现的问题，甚至是每一句可能使用的措辞，曾参与前几届总统辩论工作的高级顾问泰德•迪瓦恩近日在接受BBC采访时如是说。
A candidate is generally advised to stick to familiar territory, using tried and tested material. Sharp one-liner attacks known as “zingers” are a key part of this approach and can be very effective.
候选人一般会接受建议，紧扣自己熟悉的领域，并使用反复验证过的材料。一些调侃性的犀利反驳是该竞选方案中的重要且奏效的一环。
Romney is said to have been came in handy on October 3. He said: “Mr President, practicing zingers, which you’re entitled, as the president, to your own airplane and to your own house, but not to your own facts.”
据称，这招在罗姆尼10月3日的辩论中就派上了用场。他说：“总统先生，作为一名总统，你有资格对着自己的飞机、房屋进行练习强有力的反驳，但不要对着自己的政绩这样做。”
One of the most important rules, says Devine, is to have a central message that you drive home to the audience repeatedly. Also make sure you answer the question, and do so right away. “Once you’ve answered, you can go on and talk about what you want to talk about,” says Devine.
迪瓦恩说，最重要的一条原则便是，你要反复向观众强调同一种中心思想。同时，要确保自己对答如流。“只要你给出答案，你可以继续下去，高谈阔论一番。”
Another rule is never to show disdain for the opponent, but Obama has apparently forgotten this. “Professorial” is the word media outlets used most frequently to describe Obama’s mannerism. He was busy taking notes and didn’t make a lot of eye contact with either Romney or the cameras.
另一条原则是永远不要轻视对手，很明显奥巴马忘了这点。各大媒体常用“学者派头”来形容奥巴马特有的说话习惯。他忙于记笔记，疏于与罗姆尼或镜头做眼神交流。
Whereas Romney managed to “keep a choirboy smile pasted on his face”, the president was quick to drop his friendliness and adopted “the look of a long-suffering headmaster enduring the excuses of a bright student he is going to expel,” said a New York Times article.
当“罗姆尼的脸上始终保持少年般微笑”时，奥巴马却迅速地丢弃自己友善的一面，他“看起来就像是一位长期受苦的校长，隐忍着他将要开除的天才学生的自我辩护。”
It is no secret that Obama doesn’t like Romney, but after the first debate he might admit that Romney is a formidable opponent after all.
奥巴马不喜欢罗姆尼，这点可谓众人皆知。但在首轮辩论之后，他也许要承认，罗姆尼终究是位强大的对手。
