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If Biden does take office, he will confront a set of challenges like few Presidents before him. He has laid out a comprehensive—and expensive—federal plan to combat the COVID-19 pandemic that includes promoting mask wearing, ramping up testing and the production of protective equipment, improving information transparency and scientific reopening guidance, and creating and distributing a vaccine. Democrats have previously proposed trillions in new spending to help individuals, businesses and local governments and shore up the health care system needs that will only grow in the coming months.
如果拜登真的就職，那么他將面臨一系列的挑戰，這是在他之前的總統很少遇到的。他制定了一項全面而昂貴的聯邦計劃來抗擊新冠，包括提倡戴口罩、加強檢測和防護設備的生產、提高信息透明度、做好重新開放相關科學指導以及制造和分發疫苗。民主黨此前曾提議新增加數萬億美元支出來幫助個人、企業和地方政府并支撐未來幾個月才會增長的醫療保健系統需求。
The coronavirus is far from the only problem Biden and the Democrats have promised to solve. A former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden would likely devote great attention to restoring America's traditional trade and security alliances. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently said the congressional agenda for 2021 would include a major infrastructure bill and an expansion of health care. Liberals will be pushing for fast action on police reform, climate and immigration. Democrats have been remarkably unified since Biden effectively sewed up the nomination in March, but the party's left wing has signaled it will not be so deferential once victory is in hand. Progressive groups have been circulating lists of potential Biden nominees they would (and would not) accept for key Administration posts.
新冠并非拜登和民主黨承諾要解決的唯一一個問題。拜登作為前參議院外交關系委員會主席，他可能會把重心放在恢復美國的傳統貿易和安全聯盟上。近期，眾議院議長佩洛西稱，2021年國會的議程將包括一項重大基礎設施法案和擴大醫療保健。自由派將推動在警察改革、氣候和移民問題上迅速采取行動。自3月拜登獲得有效提名之后，民主黨人一直非常團結，但該黨左翼已經暗示，一旦勝利在握，他們便不會如此恭敬了。進步團體一直在分發會(和不會)接受拜登關鍵行政職位的潛在候選人名單。
Four years of Trump have left Democrats with few worries about overreading their mandate. "If we win the election, we have a mandate to make change, period," says Guy Cecil, president of the Democratic super PAC Priorities USA. But if Republicans retain their hold on the Senate, prospects for major legislation will be dim. Republicans had won 48 seats as of the evening of Nov. 4, with at least one January runoff in Georgia that could decide the balance of power in the chamber.
經過特朗普的四年任期，民主黨人并不怎么擔心越權問題。民主黨超級政治行動委員會“優先美國”的主席蓋伊·塞西爾稱：“如果我們贏得了選舉，那么我們就有權利做出改變?！比欢?，如果共和黨依舊在參議員占據主導地位，那么重大立法的前景將變得黯淡。截至11月4日晚，共和黨已經贏得了48個席位。1月份佐治亞州于至少有一次決選，這或許將決定眾議院的權力平衡。
Whatever the ultimate result, the election exposed the shaky edifice of U.S. democracy. From the antiquated governing institutions that increasingly reward minoritarian rule, to the badly wounded norms surrounding the independent administration of justice, to the flimsy protections of supposedly universal suffrage, to the nation's balky and underfunded election infrastructure, Trump's presidency has laid bare the weaknesses in our system. But initiatives to reform campaign finance, government ethics and voting rights seem fated to run aground in a divided Washington.
無論最終結果如何，這次選舉都暴露了美國民主大廈的不穩固。從日益推崇少數主義統治的過時的管理機制到以獨立司法為中心的嚴重受損的規范，再到所謂普選權的脆弱保護以及美國選舉基礎設施的僵化和資金的不足，特朗普的總統任期暴露了美國體制的弱點。而競選資金、政府道德以及投票權改革的主動性也注定要在分裂的華盛頓擱淺。
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