評論
打印
Opposition research
反對派調查
Digging dirt, digitally
電子版發奸擿伏
How to ensure that dumb things politicians say get a wide audience
怎樣保證政客們把持的那些不為人知叫座連連
One of the houses the Clintons bought when they were “dead broke”WHEN Bruce Braley, a little-known Iowa Democrat, dismissed Senator Charles Grassley as “a farmer from Iowa who never went to law school” (a description that fits a lot of Iowa voters), he may not have expected his remarks to be posted online. He should have. America Rising, a firm that conducts “opposition research” on behalf of Republicans, was delighted to disseminate his gaffe, since Mr Braley is running in Iowa for an open US Senate seat.
克林頓夫婦的其中一所房子是在他們山窮水盡時購置的，當時正值來自洛瓦的一名叫做布魯斯 布拉里的民主黨無名小卒稱議員查爾斯 格拉斯利是一名從未步入法律院校大門的農民（這種描述對于很多洛瓦選民同樣適用），他做夢都不會想到他的言論會在網上曝光，但他早就該有所準備。共和黨代表美國崛起公司專門從事反對派的調查活動，它為此歡呼雀躍，奔走呼告，因為布拉里當時正在競選美國議員席位。
The recording, made as Mr Braley was soliciting donations from trial lawyers, has hobbled his campaign.Opposition research is as old as politics itself—Cicero's orations against Catiline, a dodgy candidate for the Roman consulship in 63BC, were notably well-informed. But some parties are better than others at “oppo”, as it is now called. Democrats outdid Republicans in 2012 thanks partly to the professionalism of American Bridge 21st Century (“Bridge”), which was set up in 2010 and is backed by George Soros, a financier, and others. Bridge prepared dossiers on prominent Republicans and sent staffers to film Republican candidates' every move, waiting to pounce on ill-chosen words.
錄音中，布拉里正向辯護律師尋求資金支持，這使他的競選活動深陷沼澤，反對派調查的發展歷史與政治人士本身不相上下，其最早可追溯到時西塞羅與喀提林一場人盡皆知的辯論，喀提林是公元前63年羅馬執政官的競選者，巧舌如簧。但是在“opp”中（如今人們這么稱呼他），一些黨派真是鶴立雞群，如“21世紀美國之橋”（“橋”），其內部專業人士在2012年民主黨擊敗共和黨中立了大功，2010年它在金融學家喬治索羅斯和其他一些人的支持下創立，它建立一些聲名顯赫的共和黨人的檔案，派遣成員記錄下共和黨競選者的一舉一動，并大肆渲染每一個錯用的單詞。
It worked. Bridge circulated a video of Todd Akin, a Missouri Republican running for the Senate, using the phrase “legitimate rape”. Mr Akin later said he meant “forcible”, not “legitimate”, but the gaffe probably cost him the election.
這招確實奏效，它曾制作了一部密蘇里共和黨議員候選人都德阿金的視頻，視頻中他使用了“合情理強奸”一詞，后來他說它是指“強制性強奸”不是“合情理”，但這種錯誤還是造成其落選。
O tempora, o mores
啊,時代呀!啊,風尚呀!
For the presidential campaign, Bridge helped to drive a national conversation about Republican nominee Mitt Romney's past in private equity, allowing Barack Obama to benefit from bare-knuckle capitalist-bashing without having to roll up his own sleeves. Bridge is now gearing up for this year's congressional races; it reports raising and spending over 2.6m in the first three months of 2014.
在總統選舉中，該組織同樣推動了一場關于共和黨提名人選羅姆尼私募股權的過去，其結果是，奧巴馬不費絲毫力氣，借了資本家抨擊的刀，坐收漁翁之利。如今，美國之橋正在為今年的國會選舉整裝待發，它的報道量攀升，在2014年的前三個月的開支便達到了260萬美元。
After Mr Romney lost, Republican grandees were determined to build a national rival to Bridge. Matt Rhoades, a former Romney campaign manager, joined Tim Miller and Joe Pounder, former Republican National Committee officials, to lead the way. They took 100,000 from the remnants of a pro-Romney campaign fund and more cash from big donors, and set about hiring researchers and “trackers”.
自從羅姆尼失利后，共和黨政要便一心想要為美國之橋樹立勁敵，在這一點上，羅姆尼陣營前領導者馬特羅迪斯和共和黨國家委員會成員蒂姆 米勒，瓊 鮑德攜手開創了先河，他們從支持羅姆尼的資金余額中拿出10萬美元，又向捐助者大量集資，正著手雇傭研究和記錄人員。
America Rising hopes that its investigations and ever-expanding store of video footage will help Republicans, or at least force Democrats to watch what they say. “Back in the old days, Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu a Democrat could go down to Louisiana and say one thing about her position on energy, and then go talk to some liberal donors and say another thing,” says Mr Miller.More or less every word a candidate says now lives online somewhere. So groups like Rising and Bridge can build enormous, searchable databases of their opponents' statements and systematically search for contradictions.
“美國崛起”希望，調查的增加和視頻的堆積會助共和黨一臂之力或至少也讓民主黨對其所言小心謹慎，米勒說“在過去，路易斯安那民主黨議員瑪麗， 可以來到路易斯安那州對于他的立場大放厥詞，但在一些自由捐助人士面前卻拋射另一套理論。”可以說，在當今這個社會里，競選人所說的每一個單詞在網絡上都有跡可循，因此，崛起和橋一類的組織都能建立一套有關他們對手言論的數據庫，容量巨大，搜尋便利，可用來系統的搜索與之對立的信息。
When they find one, they can alert reporters, or sympathetic activists who can then create ads or web campaigns exploiting the discovery. Both Rising and Bridge are constantly in touch with these other groups, coordinating their attacks. The most valuable employee is no longer a loyalist willing to trail a candidate for months, but a skilled digital researcher.The two oppo groups are already building cases against possible presidential candidates for 2016.
一旦他們捕捉到什么，他們便告知記者或與之同呼吸的激進分子，這些人利用廣告或網絡活動深入挖掘發現的用處，崛起和橋都和其他組織緊密相連，協調攻擊。最有價值的雇員不再是那種心甘情愿跟蹤一個競選者長達幾個月的人，而是一個技術精湛的電子調查員。這兩個反對黨派組織已經在積蓄力量，其目標就是可能于2016年參選的競選人。
Bridge has been digging for dirt on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, some of it relating to a traffic jam on a bridge that his aides are alleged to have caused to punish a mayor who crossed him. They are also scouring documents related to an investigation of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's campaign finances.And of course Bridge and Rising are at war over Hillary Clinton. The Republicans have a dedicated anti-Hillary team, are building a video archive of all her appearances, have published an e-Book to pick apart her recent memoir and are posting shareable barbs, such as pictures of two rather grand houses the Clintons bought around the time when Mrs Clinton said they were “dead broke”. Mrs Clinton's defenders at Bridge have created an organisation called “Correct the Record” to rebut Republican attacks on the former secretary of state.
橋正致力于挖掘新澤新洲州長克里斯 克里斯蒂的負面新聞，其中一些是關于他的助手處罰了一個在交通擁堵中超他車的市長，另一些文件積累是為了調查威斯康辛州州長競選財政問題。當然，在希拉里克林頓問題上，橋和崛起之間也是硝煙四起，共和黨領導的是一個反克林頓集團，他們正在制作所有希拉里拋頭露面的視頻合輯，并發表了一部電子書在希拉里最近的自傳中挑肥揀瘦，鋒芒畢露，例如，有兩張圖是希拉里在其聲稱山窮水盡時所購置的兩套氣勢恢宏的住房，橋內部希拉里的捍衛者們創立了一個名叫“記錄糾錯”的組織，反擊共和黨對這位前國務卿的攻擊。
Over the past decade oppo has turned from an art into a science, with fewer camera-wielding college students hiding behind trees and more staff staring at screens all day, monitoring livestreamed interviews and campaign events. Both sides dream of upending an opponent with an Akinesque “gotcha”, but the daily reality is more mundane. On Rising's website, the self-explanatory headline above one video is “Rep. Joe Garcia (D-FL) Picks His Ear And Eats It”.
經過十年，反對黨調查組織已從一種藝術演變為一種科學，在樹后手持相機躲躲閃閃的大學生漸漸淡出了視野，取而代之的是一群目不轉睛盯著屏幕的工作人士，審閱各種直播的訪談和競選活動。兩者都夢想放倒對手，歡呼難倒你了，但事實更為平淡乏味，在崛起的網站，一則視頻上的導語解釋道：共和黨瓊 加西亞掏掏耳屎并吃了它”譯者：張孟夏
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