Introducing his running mate against the backdrop of the USS Wisconsin on Saturday, Mitt Romney flubbed his easiest line: “Join me in welcoming the next president of the United States.” There is no way to avoid reading this as a Freudian slip. Mr Romney’s chief problem as a candidate has been his substantive vacuity, his failure to stand for much beyond flexibility itself. In choosing Paul Ryan, he opted to outsource the content of his campaign to his opposite: a principled, conservative ideas man. Mr Ryan is now the head of the Republican ticket, Mr Romney the body.
周六，在“威斯康辛号”(USS Wisconsin)战舰前介绍自己的竞选搭档时，米特•罗姆尼(Mitt Romney)把一句最简单的“台词”说错了，说成了：“请大家和我一起欢迎美国未来的总统。”我们不得不联想到，或许这个口误正是罗姆尼下意识的想法。作为总统候选人，罗姆尼的主要问题在于其主张极其空洞，除了“见机行事”本身之外未能真正主张什么。选择保罗•瑞安(Paul Ryan)做竞选搭档，就是选择了靠一个与自己截然相反的人为自己的竞选增加一些实质内容：瑞安有原则，是一个坚定的保守主义者。如今在这个共和党正副总统候选人团队中，瑞安是脑袋，罗姆尼则是受脑袋指挥的身子。