又中又英｜Attack ads

American TV and radio stations and digital platforms are raking it in. They rake it in every four years during presidential elections but are raking it in even more during this election. The slang idiom “rake it in” means to earn a large amount of money in an easy way. Supporters of presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are paying through the nose for attack ads against each other. To pay through the nose means to pay a lot of money for something. An attack ad, as I explained before, is a TV advertisement attacking a political opponent.

American TV stations must charge the lowest available price if candidates place attack ads themselves. But the rule doesn’t apply if groups supporting candidates, known as Political Action Committees, raise donations for attack ads. The political team of Vice President Kamala Harris has raised about US$1 billion (about HK$8 billion) since she entered the race in late July. Some previous presidential candidates have also raised US$1 billion, but not in such a short time. The team of former President Donald Trump raised about US$430 million in the three months between July and September. Harris and Trump’s teams have already spent a lot on campaign ads.

They are still raising money for more ads before the November 5 election. I often see back-to-back attack ads when I watch TV. If something is back-to-back, it means it happens one after another. I sometimes laugh when I see a Trump attack ad followed immediately by a Harris attack ad. Which ad should viewers believe? I read a news article that said many Americans are fed up with attack ads when they watch TV during an election year.

美国的电视台、电台和电子平台现时都大赚特赚（raking it in）。他们在每4年一次的总统大选期间往往都会赚大钱（rake it in），但这一次大选他们更是大捞一把（raking it in）。俚语“rake it in”是指很轻松就能赚一大笔钱。总统候选人贺锦丽以及唐纳德‧特朗普的支持者都在花大钱（paying through the nose）投放攻击广告（attack ads）互相攻击。To pay through the nose是指去为某事物大洒金钱。An attack ad，正如我之前解释过的，就是一个攻击政治对手的电视广告。

若候选人自行投放攻击广告（attack ads），美国电视台只能向其收取最低费用；然而，当支持候选人的团体，就是政治行动委员会，筹集资金去投放攻击广告（attack ads）时，这个规定就不适用。自从副总统贺锦丽7月下旬参选以来，她的政治队伍就筹集了大约10亿美元（约80亿港元）。之前一些总统候选人都有筹集到10亿美元，但并非在这么短的时间之内。前总统唐纳德‧特朗普的队伍，在7至9月的3个月内，就筹集到大约4亿3000万美元。贺锦丽和特朗普的队伍都已经在竞选广告上花费甚多。

在11月5日选举日之前，他们仍然会筹集资金去投放更多的广告。我看电视的时候就看到back-to-back的攻击广告（attack ads）——若某事物是 back-to-back，意即它是连续的、一个接着一个的。当我看到一个特朗普的攻击广告（attack ad），然后紧接着就是贺锦丽的攻击广告（attack ad）之时，我有时会笑了出来。观众应该相信哪一个广告？我读过一篇新闻报道指，在选举年期间，许多美国人都厌烦了在看电视时要看到这些攻击广告（attack ads）。

mickchug@gmail.com
Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻