时代周刊:民主党初选形势日益明朗(2)

Sanders had won the most votes in the first three contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.

在爱荷华州、新罕布夏州和内华达州的前三场竞选中，桑德斯赢得的选票最多。

After a brutal¹ start to his campaign,

经历了激烈的竞选开局后，

Biden's resounding² win in the Feb.29 South Carolina primary triggered a rapid chain of events:

拜登在2月29日南卡罗来纳州初选中大获全胜，并激起了大片涟漪：

Just hours before Super Tuesday voting began,

就在超级星期二投票开始的几个小时前，

two of his top rivals, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, threw their support behind him,

拜登的两位主要竞争对手皮特·布蒂吉格和艾米·克洛布查尔相继表示愿意为他投票，

followed by another former candidate, Beto O'Rourke, a favorite of Texas Democrats⁴.

接着，另一名前候选人，最受德州民主党人青睐的贝托·奥鲁尔克也加入了二人的队伍。

Twenty-four hours later, the returns confirmed his status as the Democratic establishment's alternative to Sanders.

24小时后，拜登作为民主党在桑德斯外的二号方案的地位便已尘埃落定。

As of March 4, the former Vice⁵ President had won Alabama, Arkansas, Maine, Massachusetts,

截至3月4日，这位前副总统便已拿下阿拉巴马州，阿肯色州，缅因州，马萨诸塞州，

Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

明尼苏达州、北卡罗来纳州、俄克拉何马州、田纳西州、德克萨斯州以及弗吉尼亚州。

Six of the 10 victories were by double-digit margins⁶, allowing him to rack up delegates,

在这10场胜利中，拜登以两位数选票优势获胜的次数多达6场，一举获得了累加选举人席位的资格，

which are allocated⁷ proportionally to candidates with at least 15% of the vote.

选举人席位是按比例分配给得票率在15%以上的候选人的。

Sanders was projected to win California, the biggest delegate prize, as well as Colorado, Utah and his home state of Vermont.

预计桑德斯会拿下选举代表名额最多的加州，此外还会拿下科罗拉多州，犹他州和他的家乡佛蒙特州。

While Biden's aides had expected a strong showing in the South,

尽管拜登的助手们预计拜登在南方会有可喜斩获，

the campaign's upset victory in Texas was key given the state's delegate haul, the second largest of the night.

但德州的意外胜利对于该州的代表争夺战至关重要——德州是当晚第二大选举州。

In the suburbs of cities like Houston and Dallas, where Democrats' gains in 2018 helped lift them to the House majority,

在休斯顿和达拉斯等城市的郊区——2018年，民主党正是靠着这些地区的胜利获得了众议院多数席位——

moderate Democratic voters appeared to recoil⁸ at Sanders' liberal rallying cry.

温和派民主党选民似乎对桑德斯的自由派战斗口号颇为踟蹰。

"People are freaked out" by Sanders, says Colin Strother,

“大家都被桑德斯吓到了，”科林·斯特罗瑟说，

a Texas Democratic strategist who argued that if Sanders is at the top of the ticket, he has concerns about down-ballot candidates.

这位德州民主党策略师认为，如果桑德斯领先，那下一轮投票的候选人就值得担忧了。

"We think we're going to get creamed."

“感觉我们会落败。”

Strother is a political adviser⁹ to Representative Henry Cuellar, a moderate Democrat³ who beat back a liberal primary challenger—

斯特罗瑟是击退了自由派初选竞争对手的温和派民主党众议员亨利·奎勒的政治顾问——

another proof point in the case against the far left.

这是反对极左翼的另一个证据。

Even Biden's Senior aides were surprised by the rout¹⁰.

就连拜登的高级助手对这次胜出都颇为意外。

"Was this not exactly what I told you was going to happen?"

“我不跟你说过会变成这样嘛？”

a senior Biden campaign official joked as his victory came into view.

拜登选举团队的一名高级官员看到胜利在望时开玩笑地说道。

But Biden's romp¹¹ came not from voters' longstanding preferences but from a lastminute stampede.

然而，拜登之所以能轻易取胜，并非是因为有选民长期青睐于他，而是凭借最后关头的混乱局面。

Nearly as stunning¹² as the speed of Biden's turnaround was the fact that it didn't seem to be because of anything the candidate himself did.

拜登翻身之快令人震惊，几乎同样令人震惊的是他的翻身似乎并非是因为他本人就竞选策略做出了任何优化。

Instead, the party came to him.

与之相反，是党在向他靠近。

1 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

2 resounding   

adj. 响亮的

参考例句：

• The astronaut was welcomed with joyous,resounding acclaim. 人们欢声雷动地迎接那位宇航员。
• He hit the water with a resounding slap. 他啪的一声拍了一下水。

3 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。

4 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》

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

7 allocated   

adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
• More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。

8 recoil   

vi.退却，退缩，畏缩

参考例句：

• Most people would recoil at the sight of the snake.许多人看见蛇都会向后退缩。
• Revenge may recoil upon the person who takes it.报复者常会受到报应。

9 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。

10 rout   

n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮

参考例句：

• The enemy was put to rout all along the line.敌人已全线崩溃。
• The people's army put all to rout wherever they went.人民军队所向披靡。

11 romp   

n.欢闹；v.嬉闹玩笑

参考例句：

• The child went for a romp in the forest.那个孩子去森林快活一把。
• Dogs and little children romped happily in the garden.狗和小孩子们在花园里嬉戏。

12 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。