Clown or Congressman?

巴西小丑最高票当选国会议员

Voters the world over complain about having clowns for politicians, but Brazilians embraced the idea on Sunday by sending a real one to Congress with more votes than any other candidate.

全世界的选民经常抱怨他们的政治人物好像小丑，而在星期天的选举中，巴西人却选出了一个真正的小丑当议员。他的票数超过了其他所有候选人的票数。

Francisco Everardo Oliveira Silva, better known by his clown name Tiririca, received more than 1.3 million votes in Sao Paulo state in Brazil's presidential and congressional elections. That was more than double the votes of the second-placed candidate in Brazil's most populous state.

艺名特里里卡的佛朗西斯科·席尔瓦在 3 日举行的国会大选中，以130万票在巴西最大省圣保罗省脱颖而出，当选国会议员，票数是第二名的两倍多。

Tiririca caught the attention of disillusioned voters by asking for their support with the humorous slogan: "It can't get any worse" and a promise to do nothing more in Congress than report back to them on how politicians spend their time.

特里里卡凭借幽默的竞选口号， “最糟糕不就是这样了” ，吸引失望的选民。他还承诺当他当上议员后，会向大家汇报政客每天如何打发时间。

"What does a congressman do? The truth is I don't know, but vote for me and I'll tell you," the 45-year-old said in his campaign advertisements.

“联邦议员做什么？说实话， 我不知道。 不过投我一票， 我会让你们知道。 ”45 岁的特里里卡艺名的意思是“粗鲁的” 。

The clown, whose stage name means "grumpy", usually appears in public wearing a blond wig, a red hat and a garish outfit. He survived a last-minute attempt by public prosecutors to bar him from running because of evidence that he is illiterate.

他在舞台上的典型形象是金发、老土的帽子和一身五彩的衣服，如今是巴西著名电视笑星。他差一点失去竞选资格，因为最后一刻一个监控官发现他居然是个文盲。

His candidacy may not have been as spontaneous or innocent as it might appear. Tiririca's well-financed campaign will help elect other politicians because under Brazil's election rules he can pass his substantial excess votes on to other candidates in his coalition, which includes the ruling Workers' Party.

特里里卡的竞选资格也许不像看起来那么单纯。这场竞选背后有强大的财力支持，他的当选能帮助其他政客，巴西的选举法规定他可以把多余的票数给联盟中的其他候选人，包括现在的执政党劳动党。

 

 

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