Britons have admired America's televised presidential debates since the first, between John F. Kennedy and a sweaty Richard Nixon, aired in 1960. But it took them half a century to adopt the practice. Though politicians often flirted with the idea, and broadcasters nagged, the more plausible of the party leaders (typically the incumbent) always vetoed it, sensing that he or she had more to lose than to gain. This deadlock broke in 2010 because Gordon Brown, the then-prime minister, was so unpopular that he was willing to gamble. David Cameron, leader of the opposition Conservative Party, was delighted. He had spent months agitating for the contest (pictured below), accusing Mr Brown of "dithering" and "bottling".
展开▼
机译：自1960年约翰·F·肯尼迪（John F. Kennedy）和满头大汗的理查德·尼克松（Richard Nixon）播出以来，英国人就对美国的电视转播总统辩论大加赞赏。但是，他们花了半个世纪才采纳了这种做法。尽管政客们经常对这个主意fl之以鼻，广播公司对此n之以鼻，但党内领导人（通常是现任领导人）似乎更有道理，却否决了这一想法，认为他（她）有很多损失而不是获得。由于当时的首相戈登·布朗（Gordon Brown）如此不受欢迎，以至于他愿意赌博，因此这种僵局在2010年打破了。反对党保守党领袖戴维·卡梅伦（David Cameron）很高兴。他花了几个月的时间为比赛鼓动（如下图所示），指控布朗先生“抖动”和“装瓶”。
展开▼
