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Speaker Paul Ryan’s surprise exit
眾議院議長保羅·瑞安意外退出
By Philip Elliott
文/菲利普·艾略特
HOUSE SPEAKER PAUL RYAN AND WHITE HOUSE chief of staff John Kelly made the obligatory small talk
四月初，在奧斯汀的一家酒店共乘一部電梯時，
as they shared an elevator in a hotel in Austin in early April.
眾議院議長保羅·瑞安和白宮首席發言人約翰·凱利兩人進行了義務式的寒暄。
They asked about each other’s families, groused about allergy season and complained that hotels are always too air-conditioned.
他們互相詢問了對方的家庭情況，并對過敏季節和酒店的空調總是開得太大發了發牢騷。
But hanging in the air between them, Ryan told friends, was a mutual sympathy for their shared burden: President Donald J. Trump.
但兩人都籠罩在，瑞安告訴朋友們，他們對同時壓在兩人肩上的負擔——唐納德·特朗普的同情之下。
There wasn’t much to say, really, or much to be done.
不過，已經沒什么可說，也沒什么可做了。
Both have found working with the President to be an infinitely frustrating task.
兩人都覺得和總統共事是一項讓人無比泄氣的工作。
Both had resigned themselves to trying to limit the damage.
但兩人也都接受了自己要努力減少損失的責任。
Washington has long simmered with talk that Kelly had reached a breaking point and was on his way out,
長期以來，華盛頓一直有凱利已經到了崩潰的邊緣，即將脫離白宮的傳言在醞釀著，
but as it happened, it was Ryan who exited first.
結果反而是瑞安先退出。
On April 11, Ryan strode to the podium at the Capitol
4月11日，瑞安大步走向國會大廈的講臺，
and declared that he would not seek an 11th term representing his hometown in a southern corner of Wisconsin.
宣布他不會再爭取代表家鄉，威斯康辛州南部的一個角落，的第11個任期了。
True to form, Ryan put the most optimistic spin he could on the situation.
像往常一樣，瑞恩對形勢做出了最樂觀的預測。
“You realize that you hold the office for just a small part of our history, so you better make the most of it.
“意識到你的任期僅僅是歷史長河中的一瞬，你最好充分利用好那段時間。
It’s fleeting, and that inspires you to do big things,” he said.
因為它轉眼就會過去，你會因此得到大展拳腳的動力，”他說。
But Ryan’s departure marks a dangerous moment for his party.
不過，瑞安的離開也標志著共和黨已經陷入了危險。
The 48-year-old Speaker was once the face of its future.
因為這位48歲的議長曾經代表著共和黨的未來。
Now his exit serves as a warning to House Republicans that they could well lose their majority in the fall elections.
現在，他的退出等于是向眾議院的共和黨人發出了一個警告：他們很可能在秋季的中期選舉中失去多數黨地位。
It sends a signal to conservatives that the real fight remains keeping control of the Senate.
他的退出也向保守派發出了一個信號，即斗爭的核心仍然是保持對參議院的控制。
And it shows just how much the party is struggling in the Trump era.
不僅如此，他的退出還顯示了共和黨在特朗普時代舉步維艱到了何種程度。
RYAN’S TIME atop the House was never going to be easy; he didn’t even want the job in the first place.
瑞安領導眾議院的日子從來都不會輕松；他一開始甚至都沒想要做這份工作。
Drafted into service in 2015 by strategists who thought he could bridge the chasm between the party’s Establishment and activist wings
2015年前議長約翰·博納意外退休后，
in the wake of former Speaker John Boehner’s surprise retirement,
認為他能夠彌合黨內建黨派和活動派之間的鴻溝的戰略家們選中了他，
he accepted on the condition that he could spend most weekends at home with his children.
他接受了這份工作，前提是大多數周末他都要能和他的孩子們待在家里。
“You can’t take away my family,” Ryan said at the time.
“你不能奪走我的家庭，”瑞安當時說。
That proved more difficult than Ryan had anticipated, and he again cited family in his retirement announcement.
結果，要做到做一點比瑞安預想的要難，在退休聲明中他再次提到了他的家人。
“My kids aren’t getting any younger, and if I stay, they’re only going to know me as a weekend dad.
“我的孩子們一點兒也不會往回長，我要是留下來，他們就只會拿我當周末爸爸了。
And that’s just something I consciously can’t do,” he said at the Capitol.
這種事我是不能有意識地去做的，”他在國會發表退休聲明演講時說到。
Still, the speakership was an outlet for Ryan’s ideological ambitions.
盡管如此，議長一職還是為瑞安實現其思想抱負提供了一個出路。
As Mitt Romney’s pick for Vice President in 2012, he never quite shook the bug for a presidential run of his own.
作為米特·羅姆尼2012年選中的副總統候選人，瑞安從來都沒有徹底放棄自己參加總統競選的可能性。
He brushed off calls to join the race in 2016,
2016年時他雖然沒有理會讓他參加競選的呼聲，
but withheld his full-throated support for Trump’s candidacy in part
但一定程度上，他還是沒有給特朗普的競選予以全力的支持，
because he had a 2020 run of his own in mind.
因為他有自己參加2020年總統大選的打算。
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