評論
打印
Are American voters acting normal again?
美國選民恢復正常了嗎?
By Molly Ball
文/莫莉·波爾
EVER SINCE DONALD TRUMP CAME ALONG,
自從唐納德·特朗普出現在民眾的視線中以來，
politics has been upside down and backward,
美國的政治就一直在顛倒和倒退，
the conventional wisdom rendered useless and the old rules thrown out the window.
傳統的智慧變得一無是處，舊的規則也被棄若敝履。
Political professionals regard the American voter warily, never sure when the next weird surprise might come.
政治專家們謹慎地看著選民，永遠都摸不透何時會再次出現奇怪的意外。
Would Republicans vote for a man accused of pursuing teens for sex?
共和黨人會投票給一個被控把青少年作為性愛追求對象的男人嗎?
Roy Moore nearly won a Senate seat in Alabama despite such allegations, which he denies.
盡管羅伊·摩爾同樣陷入了這類指控，這些指控被他矢口否認了，他還是差點贏得了阿拉巴馬州的參議員席位。
Could a Democrat capture a congressional district Trump won by 20 points?
特朗普以20個百分點的優勢爭取到的國會選區民主黨人能否拿下?
Conor Lamb in Pennsylvania did just that.
賓夕法尼亞州的康納·蘭姆就做到了。
In these topsy-turvy times, anything is possible.
在這個顛三倒四的時代，任何事情都可能發生。
And so, on May 9, the so-called experts braced for the latest insanity.
所以，5月9日那天，所謂的專家們準備好了迎接新一輪的瘋狂。
But instead, in the first major round of primary voting ahead of this fall’s midterm elections,
然而，在今年秋季中期選舉前的第一輪大型初選中，
Republican and Democratic voters made generally conventional choices.
共和黨和民主黨的選民居然普遍做出了傳統的選擇。
In primaries in West Virginia, Ohio and Indiana,
在西弗吉尼亞州、俄亥俄州和印第安納州的初選中，
voters eschewed the most out-of-the-mainstream candidates, and both party establishments exhaled.
選民們繞開了那些最脫離主流的候選人，兩黨都長吁了一口氣。
In West Virginia, Republican voters chose Patrick Morrisey, the state attorney general,
西弗吉尼亞州的共和黨選民選了州檢察長帕特里克·莫里西
as their Senate nominee to challenge the Democratic incumbent, Joe Manchin.
作為己方對抗民主黨現任參議員喬·曼欽的候選人。
A former Washington lobbyist who positioned himself as the conservative in the race,
作為在競選中把自己定位為保守派的一名前華盛頓說客，
Morrisey edged out a sitting Congressman, Evan Jenkins,
莫里西擊敗了在任國會議員埃文·詹金斯，
as well as the race’s most notorious contender, Don Blankenship,
也擊敗了本次選舉中名聲最不好的競選者唐·布蘭肯希普，
a former coal-company CEO who spent a year in prison for mine-safety violations after an explosion that killed 29 miners.
后者曾是某煤炭企業的總裁，其煤礦發生爆炸導致29名礦工死亡后，因煤礦安全違規被判了一年監禁。
In the final days of the campaign, Blankenship released a bizarre ad
在競選的最后幾天，布蘭肯希普發布了一則頗為怪異的廣告，
in which he assailed the unpopular Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, for favoring “Chinapeople” over Americans.
并在廣告中抨擊了不得人心的參議院多數黨領袖、肯塔基州議員米奇·麥康奈爾，稱他喜歡“中國人”超過喜歡美國人。
Trump, presumably without intending any irony, warned voters that Blankenship was too crazy to win a general election,
特朗普大概沒帶任何諷刺意思地警告選民道，布蘭肯希普為了贏得大選變得太瘋狂了，
comparing him to Moore, the Republican candidate who managed to lose the Alabama race in December.
為此，他還把布蘭肯希普和去年12月在阿拉巴馬州競選中失利的共和黨候選人摩爾做了比較。
The voters listened, giving Washington Republicans what they see as a better chance at taking the seat.
選民們聽取了特朗普的意見，給了華盛頓的共和黨人一個他們認為更有可能獲得這個席位的機會。
Manchin is personally popular, but Trump won the state by 42 points in 2016.
作為個人，曼欽的人氣并不低，但2016年時特朗普還是以42個百分點的優勢贏得了該州。
In Ohio, it was Democrats who were on edge, thanks to a late surge by a colorful but unconventional candidate.
俄亥俄州坐立不安的則是民主黨人，這要“感謝”最近崛起的一位頗為有趣又標新立異的候選人。
But the establishment’s preferred candidate for governor, former state attorney general Richard Cordray,
但當局更中意的州長候選人，該州的前檢察長理查德·科德雷，
easily defeated Dennis Kucinich, the far-left former Congressman and two-time presidential aspirant.
輕松擊敗了丹尼斯·庫西尼奇這位極左的，曾兩度競選總統的前國會議員。
Cordray is hardly a corporate-friendly Democrat—
科德雷很難說得上是一個親企業型的民主黨人——
he was handpicked for his last job, director of the bank watchdog Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, by liberal warrior Elizabeth Warren—
他的上一職位是銀行監管機構“消費者金融保護局”局長一職，當時是自由斗士伊麗莎白·沃倫親自挑選他擔任的——
but he lacked Kucinich’s crusading zeal and new-age vibes.
但他缺乏庫西尼奇那種十字軍般的熱忱和新時代的那種律動。
譯文由可可原創，僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載。
