As many of you know, over the last few months I've been thinking hard about my plans for 2008. Running for the presidency is a profound decision -- a decision no one should make on the basis of media hype or personal ambition alone -- and so before I committed myself and my family to this race, I wanted to be sure that this was right for us and, more importantly, right for the country. 正如你们中许多人所知，过去几个月我一直在认真思考我2008年的计划。竞选总统是一个深远的决定——任何人都不应仅仅基于媒体的炒作或个人的抱负而做出这个决定——因此在让我自己和家人投入这场竞选之前，我想确定这对我们是正确的，更重要的是，对国家是正确的。
I certainly didn't expect to find myself in this position a year ago. But as I've spoken to many of you in my travels across the states these past months, as I've read your emails and read your letters, I've been struck by how hungry we all are for a different kind of politics. So I've spent some time thinking about how I could best advance the cause of change and progress that we so desperately need. 一年前我当然没有料到自己会处于这个位置。但在这过去几个月走访各州、与你们中许多人交谈的过程中，在阅读你们的电子邮件和来信的过程中，我被我们所有人对一种不同政治的渴望深深触动。因此我花了一些时间思考，如何才能最好地推进我们迫切需要的变革与进步事业。
The decisions that have been made in Washington these past six years, and the problems that have been ignored, have put our country in a precarious place. Our economy is changing rapidly, and that means profound changes for working people. Many of you have shared with me your stories about skyrocketing health care bills, the pensions you've lost and your struggles to pay for college for your kids. Our continued dependence on oil has put our security and our very planet at risk. And we're still mired in a tragic and costly war that should have never been waged. 过去六年在华盛顿做出的决定以及被忽视的问题，已使我们的国家处于危险的境地。我们的经济正在快速变化，这意味着劳动人民将面临深刻的变革。你们中许多人向我分享了你们的故事——飞涨的医疗账单、失去的养老金、为孩子的大学学费而挣扎。我们对石油的持续依赖已使我们的安全乃至整个星球面临风险。而我们仍深陷一场悲剧性的、代价高昂的、本不该发动的战争之中。
But challenging as they are, it's not the magnitude of our problems that concerns me the most. It's the smallness of our politics. America's faced big problems before. But today, our leaders in Washington seem incapable of working together in a practical, common sense way. Politics has become so bitter and partisan, so gummed up by money and influence, that we can't tackle the big problems that demand solutions. And that's what we have to change first. We have to change our politics, and come together around our common interests and concerns as Americans. 但尽管这些挑战严峻，最令我忧虑的不是问题的严重程度，而是我们政治的狭隘。美国以前曾面对过重大问题。但今天，我们在华盛顿的领导人似乎无法以务实、常识性的方式携手合作。政治已变得如此充满怨恨和党派色彩，被金钱和利益集团如此严重地堵塞，以至于我们无法解决那些迫切需要答案的重大问题。而这就是我们必须首先改变的。我们必须改变我们的政治，围绕我们作为美国人的共同利益和关切团结起来。
This won't happen by itself. A change in our politics can only come from you -- from people across our country who believe there's a better way and are willing to work for it. Years ago, as a community organizer in Chicago, I learned that meaningful change always begins at the grassroots, and that engaged citizens working together can accomplish extraordinary things. So even in the midst of the enormous challenges we face today, I have great faith and hope about the future -- because I believe in you. 这不会自行发生。我们政治的变革只能来自你们——来自全国各地相信有更好的道路并愿意为之努力的人们。多年前，作为芝加哥的一名社区组织者，我学到有意义的变革总是从基层开始，积极参与的公民携手合作能够成就非凡之事。因此，即便面对我们今天面临的巨大挑战，我对未来仍怀有极大的信念和希望——因为我相信你们。
And that's why I wanted to tell you first that I'll be filing papers today to create a presidential exploratory committee. For the next several weeks, I'm going to talk with people from around the country, listening and learning more about the challenges we face as a nation, the opportunities that lie before us, and the role that a presidential campaign might play in bringing our country together. And on February 10th, at the end of these discussions and in my home state of Illinois, I'll share my plans with my friends, neighbors, and fellow Americans. 正因如此，我想首先告诉你们，我今天将提交文件成立一个总统竞选探索委员会。在接下来的几周里，我将与全国各地的人们交谈，倾听并深入了解我们作为一个国家所面临的挑战、摆在我们面前的机遇，以及一场总统竞选可能在凝聚国家方面发挥的作用。2月10日，在这些讨论结束之际，在我的家乡伊利诺伊州，我将向我的朋友、邻居和同胞们公布我的计划。
In the meantime, I want to thank all of you for your time, your suggestions, your encouragement, and your prayers. And I look forward to continuing our conversation in the weeks and months to come. 在此期间，我要感谢你们所有人付出的时间、建议、鼓励和祈祷。我期待在接下来的几周和几个月里继续我们的对话。