纽约时报 弗吉尼亚领导人将民主党人拖入噩梦(3)

“To show a firm grasp of the obvious, the optics would be difficult and the substance would be difficult,”

针对要是诺瑟姆和赫林两人留任而费尔法克斯被革职，情况会如何这一问题，

said State Senator J. Chapman Petersen, who is white,

州参议员查普曼·彼得森，白人，说到，

about how it would look if Mr. Northam and Mr. Herring remained in office while Mr. Fairfax was exiled.

“要表现出对显而易见的事物的坚定把握，无论是大家对这件事的印象，还是问题的实质都会变得很棘手。”

Women and African-Americans have never been more politically powerful:

美国的女性群体和非裔人群从来没有拥有过现在这样强大的政治影响力：

The Democrats²’ 40-seat win in the House midterm elections in November,

对民主党而言，无论是11月中期选举时赢得40个众议院席位，

as well as their 2017 triumph in the top Virginia races,

还是2017年在弗吉尼亚顶级竞选中胜出，

was powered in no small part by those voters.

很大程度上都得益于有这些选民的支持。

And with Republicans barely hanging on to their legislative³ majority in the Virginia Capitol,

眼看共和党人在弗吉尼亚州议会上勉强才保住了立法的多数席位，

Democrats were counting on the same two blocs⁴ to propel them to victory in this fall’s election of all 140 delegates and state senators.

今年秋季的选举，民主党还要指望这两个群体来推动他们赢得拿下全部140名代表和州参议员名额的胜利。

Ultimately, some Democrats here said, they must begin the process of emerging from the wreckage⁵ that is the executive branch of Virginia state government

该州一些民主党人表示，事到如今，他们必须通过向或许称得上是他们最忠实的选民的人群——黑人女性寻求帮助了，

by turning to what is perhaps their most loyal constituency: black women.

藉此从维吉尼亚州政府行政部门这一废墟中走出来。

And barely hours after Ms. Watson came forward on Friday saying she was raped⁶ by Mr. Fairfax in 2000 when they were students at Duke University,

上周五，沃森站出来说自己在2000年，当时他们两人都还是杜克大学的学生，被费尔法克斯强奸过。就在她说出此事的几个小时后，

several senior Virginia Democrats began making the case that should Mr. Northam continue his refusal to resign,

维吉尼亚州一些资深民主党人就指出，如果诺瑟姆继续拒绝辞职，

he ought to appoint State Senator Jennifer McClellan to replace Mr. Fairfax if he quits or is impeached⁷.

那他就应该在费尔法克斯辞职或被弹劾后，任命州参议员詹妮弗·麦克莱伦来接替费尔法克斯。

(It is not certain that Mr. Northam could appoint any successor to Mr. Fairfax, scholars said,

(诺瑟姆是否有权指定费尔法克斯的继任者还不确定，学者们说，

because of conflicting provisions and interpretations⁸ of the Virginia Constitution and state law.)

因为弗吉尼亚州宪法和州法律的条款和解释是相互矛盾的。）

Ms. McClellan, who is black, is a longtime Richmond legislator

麦克莱伦女士，黑人，长期担任里士满的议员，

who was already thought to have statewide ambitions and has a close relationship with Senator Tim Kaine.

人们认为她是有往州一级奋斗的雄心壮志的。此外，她还与参议员蒂姆·凯恩有着密切的关系。

“Jennifer would make an exceptionally good lieutenant⁹ governor,”

“詹妮弗会成为一名非常出色的副州长的，”

said C. Richard Cranwell, a former state Democratic chairman and legislator, when asked about the senator.

在被问及这位参议员时，前州民主党主席、议员C·理查德·克兰韦尔评价道。

Delegate Charniele L. Herring, who is the chairwoman of the House Democratic Caucus¹⁰ and a former chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia,

众议院民主党核心小组主席兼弗吉尼亚州民主党前主席沙尔内莱·赫林说到，

said, “African-American women have been a core, consistent base, and it’s important that we as a party reconcile with them.”

“非裔美国女性一直都是一个核心的、始终如一的选民基础，作为一个政党，与她们达成和解是很重要的。”

But some of the country’s most prominent black women were just as confounded about the way forward as any Democrat¹ in Virginia.

然而，和弗吉尼亚州任何一位民主党人一样，就连一些最著名的黑人女性也对前进的道路感到迷茫了。

“This has been one of the most difficult political weeks of my life,”

“这是我一生中最艰难的政治周之一，”

said Donna Brazile, the former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.

民主党全国委员会前主席唐娜·布拉齐尔说。

“There’s no playbook for this.”

“因为现在的情况没有任何剧本可以参照。”

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

4 blocs   

n.集团，联盟( bloc的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The division of Europe into warring blocs produces ever-increasing centrifugal stress. 把欧洲分为作战集团产生了越来越大的离心效果。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The policy of the two blocs was played out. 把世界分为两个集团的政策已经过时了。 来自辞典例句

5 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

6 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

7 impeached   

v.控告（某人）犯罪( impeach的过去式和过去分词 )；弹劾；对（某事物）怀疑；提出异议

参考例句：

• Elected officials can be impeached. 经过选举产生的官员可以被弹劾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The judge was impeached for taking a bribe. 这个法官被检举接受贿赂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 interpretations   

n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 )；表演；演绎；理解

参考例句：

• This passage is open to a variety of interpretations. 这篇文章可以有各种不同的解释。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The involved and abstruse passage makes several interpretations possible. 这段艰涩的文字可以作出好几种解释。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

10 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。