时代周刊:共和党众议院议长之争不会太体面(1)

Republicans are looking for a new House leader, and the race won’t be pretty

共和党人正物色新的众议院领袖，但竞选不会很体面

By Philip Elliott

文/菲利普·艾略特

TOP REPUBLICANS ON CAPITOL HILL ARE INCREASINGLY skittish¹

国会共和党高层内部的氛围已经日渐紧张，

that heir apparent Kevin McCarthy lacks the support to succeed House Speaker Paul Ryan,

因为就目前而言，凯文·麦卡锡显然是继任众议院议长保罗·瑞安之位的人选，但他的支持率不够高，

paving the way for an ugly leadership fight.

这就为一场丑陋的领导权之争创造了条件。

McCarthy is working behind the scenes to line up backers.

麦卡锡正在幕后努力争取同僚的支持。

But his ascension is unlikely to be smooth, according to interviews with 16 senior Republicans,

然而，从对16名资深共和党人的采访来看，他的升迁之路不可能顺利，

who believe the divisions in the party may create an opening for a member of the right-wing Freedom Caucus²

他们认为，党内的分裂可能会给右翼自由党团的成员，

or a compromise candidate such as Representative Kevin Brady of Texas,

或者像实力不容小觑的众议院筹款委员会的主席，德克萨斯州众议员凯文·布雷迪，

chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, or Representative Mark Walker of North Carolina.

或北卡罗来纳州众议员马克·沃克这样走折衷路线的候选人以可乘之机。

Ryan has backed McCarthy, the House majority leader, as his successor.

瑞安曾表态支持众议院多数党领袖麦卡锡接替自己的职位。

The White House also seems to support him.

白宫似乎也对麦卡锡持支持态度。

McCarthy is close to President Trump³,

麦卡锡与特朗普总统交往甚密，

whose daughter Ivanka will join the six-term California Congressman⁴ at events in the state on June 18.

特朗普的女儿伊万卡将于6月18日在加州参加特朗普的六届加州国会议员竞选活动。

McCarthy is making the rounds to assure deep-pocketed patrons that he has the fundraising ability to bankroll the party machine.

目前，麦卡锡正在四处游说，试图向资金雄厚的庇护者们保证，他有能力为这个政党机器筹款。

He also has plenty of goodwill⁵ among rank-and-file Republicans and carefully tends to younger members,

他在普通共和党人中间的声誉也不错，还会小心翼翼对党内的年轻成员予以关照，

helping⁶ ensure that every GOP newcomer succeeds in passing a piece of legislation.

帮助确保每一个共和党新成员都能成功通过一项立法。

YET AS THE RACE TAKES SHAPE, people in McCarthy’s corner have nagging⁷ doubts about his candidacy.

然而，随着竞争氛围越来越浓，麦卡锡阵营的人不断萌发出了对他的候选人资格的质疑。

McCarthy has amassed⁸ a conservative voting record, but he seldom criticizes Trump,

麦卡锡打破了保守党的投票记录，但他很少批评特朗普，

and some Republicans aren’t sure that McCarthy is willing to check a President who has trampled⁹ traditional GOP values.

部分共和党人也无法确信，麦卡锡是否有意约束一位践踏了共和党传统价值观的总统。

“There is no Republican Party. There’s a Trump party.

“没有共和党。只有特朗普党。

The Republican Party is kinda taking a nap somewhere,” former House Speaker John Boehner said on May 31.

共和党怕是正在某个角落打盹儿吧，”前众议院议长约翰·博纳5月31日评论道。

A McCarthy speakership, some Republicans fear, could further cement the President’s takeover of the GOP.

一些共和党人担心，麦卡锡的上台可能会进一步巩固总统对共和党的掌控。

McCarthy has tried for the job before.

此前，麦卡锡已经尝试过接手这项工作。

In 2015 he made a bid to replace Boehner,

2015年，他曾试图接替博纳，

but he struggled to persuade enough colleagues to support him and withdrew from the race on the same day as the vote.

但他难以说服足够多的同僚支持他，后于投票当天退出了竞选。

Speaking of concerns about McCarthy, one top House Republican adviser¹⁰ asks, “What has changed since 2015?”

谈到对麦卡锡的担忧，一位众议院共和党高级顾问问道：“你觉得2015年以来共和党有什么什么变化吗？”

1 skittish   

adj.易激动的，轻佻的

参考例句：

• She gets very skittish when her boy-friend is around.她男朋友在场时，她就显得格外轻佻。
• I won't have my son associating with skittish girls.我不准我的儿子与轻佻的女孩交往。

2 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。

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

5 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 nagging   

adj.唠叨的，挑剔的；使人不得安宁的v.不断地挑剔或批评（某人）( nag的现在分词 )；不断地烦扰或伤害（某人）；无休止地抱怨；不断指责

参考例句：

• Stop nagging—I'll do it as soon as I can. 别唠叨了—我会尽快做的。
• I've got a nagging pain in my lower back. 我后背下方老是疼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 amassed   

v.积累，积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He amassed a fortune from silver mining. 他靠开采银矿积累了一笔财富。
• They have amassed a fortune in just a few years. 他们在几年的时间里就聚集了一笔财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 trampled   

踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯

参考例句：

• He gripped his brother's arm lest he be trampled by the mob. 他紧抓着他兄弟的胳膊，怕他让暴民踩着。
• People were trampled underfoot in the rush for the exit. 有人在拼命涌向出口时被踩在脚下。

10 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。