自民党総裁選がきのう始まった。元幹事長は「納得と共感」を掲げ、政調会長は「分断から協調へ」を訴える。
Former party Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba announced his slogan of "Nattoku to Kyokan" (Acceptance and empathy), while that of Fumio Kishida, chairman of the party's Policy Research Council, is "Bundan kara Kyocho e" (From division to collaboration).
優位が報じられる官房長官が誓うのは「首相の継承」。立ち位置は三者三様だった
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, who seems to have a comfortable lead, effectively pledged to perpetuate his predecessor's administration.
こと語り口に限れば、官房長官はやや木訥（ぼくとつ）な印象か。
Focusing just on their styles of speech, Suga gave the impression of being a rather modest person.
意に沿わぬ官僚を更迭するなど強面（こわもて）ぶりが伝えられるが、きのうの名乗りは「雪深い秋田の農家の長男」。
Though known for his ruthless treatment of bureaucrats he doesn't like,he presented himself as "the eldest son of a farmer in snow-bound Akita Prefecture."
たとえるなら、甲子園を沸かせたわけでも、ドラフト１位でもない政治人生を強調した
To use a baseball analogy, he stressed his political career as that of a ballplayer who never shone at Koshien as a high schooler nor was considered the top draft pick by any team.
「大臣は努力すればなれる。党三役はすごく努力すればなれる。でも総理総裁は努力だけではなれない」。田中角栄元首相の言葉だ。
Former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka (1918-1993) famously said: "You can become a Cabinet minister if you try. You can become one of the party's top three executives if you try really hard. But you cannot become the LDP president and prime minster by your effort alone."
禅譲や後継指名など何の保証にもならない政治の裏面を知り尽くした人ならではの深みがある、
These wise words are those of a man who was thoroughly familiar with the "underside" of the political community where there is no guarantee of reaching the highest post even if your predecessor has stepped down in your favor or anointed you for the job.