时代周刊:美国选民恢复正常了吗?(1)（在线收听）

Are American voters acting normal again?

美国选民恢复正常了吗?

By Molly Ball

文/莫莉·波尔

EVER SINCE DONALD TRUMP CAME ALONG,

自从唐纳德·特朗普出现在民众的视线中以来，

politics has been upside down and backward,

美国的政治就一直在颠倒和倒退，

the conventional wisdom rendered useless and the old rules thrown out the window.

传统的智慧变得一无是处，旧的规则也被弃若敝履。

Political professionals regard the American voter warily, never sure when the next weird surprise might come.

政治专家们谨慎地看着选民，永远都摸不透何时会再次出现奇怪的意外。

Would Republicans vote for a man accused of pursuing teens for sex?

共和党人会投票给一个被控把青少年作为性爱追求对象的男人吗?

Roy Moore nearly won a Senate seat in Alabama despite such allegations, which he denies.

尽管罗伊·摩尔同样陷入了这类指控，这些指控被他矢口否认了，他还是差点赢得了阿拉巴马州的参议员席位。

Could a Democrat capture a congressional district Trump won by 20 points?

特朗普以20个百分点的优势争取到的国会选区民主党人能否拿下?

Conor Lamb in Pennsylvania did just that.

宾夕法尼亚州的康纳·兰姆就做到了。

In these topsy-turvy times, anything is possible.

在这个颠三倒四的时代，任何事情都可能发生。

And so, on May 9, the so-called experts braced for the latest insanity.

所以，5月9日那天，所谓的专家们准备好了迎接新一轮的疯狂。

But instead, in the first major round of primary voting ahead of this fall’s midterm elections,

然而，在今年秋季中期选举前的第一轮大型初选中，

Republican and Democratic voters made generally conventional choices.

共和党和民主党的选民居然普遍做出了传统的选择。

In primaries in West Virginia, Ohio and Indiana,

在西弗吉尼亚州、俄亥俄州和印第安纳州的初选中，

voters eschewed the most out-of-the-mainstream candidates, and both party establishments exhaled.

选民们绕开了那些最脱离主流的候选人，两党都长吁了一口气。

In West Virginia, Republican voters chose Patrick Morrisey, the state attorney general,

西弗吉尼亚州的共和党选民选了州检察长帕特里克·莫里西

as their Senate nominee to challenge the Democratic incumbent, Joe Manchin.

作为己方对抗民主党现任参议员乔·曼钦的候选人。

A former Washington lobbyist who positioned himself as the conservative in the race,

作为在竞选中把自己定位为保守派的一名前华盛顿说客，

Morrisey edged out a sitting Congressman, Evan Jenkins,

莫里西击败了在任国会议员埃文·詹金斯，

as well as the race’s most notorious contender, Don Blankenship,

也击败了本次选举中名声最不好的竞选者唐·布兰肯希普，

a former coal-company CEO who spent a year in prison for mine-safety violations after an explosion that killed 29 miners.

后者曾是某煤炭企业的总裁，其煤矿发生爆炸导致29名矿工死亡后，因煤矿安全违规被判了一年监禁。

In the final days of the campaign, Blankenship released a bizarre ad

在竞选的最后几天，布兰肯希普发布了一则颇为怪异的广告，

in which he assailed the unpopular Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, for favoring “Chinapeople” over Americans.

并在广告中抨击了不得人心的参议院多数党领袖、肯塔基州议员米奇·麦康奈尔，称他喜欢“中国人”超过喜欢美国人。

Trump, presumably without intending any irony, warned voters that Blankenship was too crazy to win a general election,

特朗普大概没带任何讽刺意思地警告选民道，布兰肯希普为了赢得大选变得太疯狂了，

comparing him to Moore, the Republican candidate who managed to lose the Alabama race in December.

为此，他还把布兰肯希普和去年12月在阿拉巴马州竞选中失利的共和党候选人摩尔做了比较。

The voters listened, giving Washington Republicans what they see as a better chance at taking the seat.

选民们听取了特朗普的意见，给了华盛顿的共和党人一个他们认为更有可能获得这个席位的机会。

Manchin is personally popular, but Trump won the state by 42 points in 2016.

作为个人，曼钦的人气并不低，但2016年时特朗普还是以42个百分点的优势赢得了该州。

In Ohio, it was Democrats who were on edge, thanks to a late surge by a colorful but unconventional candidate.

俄亥俄州坐立不安的则是民主党人，这要“感谢”最近崛起的一位颇为有趣又标新立异的候选人。

But the establishment’s preferred candidate for governor, former state attorney general Richard Cordray,

但当局更中意的州长候选人，该州的前检察长理查德·科德雷，

easily defeated Dennis Kucinich, the far-left former Congressman and two-time presidential aspirant.

轻松击败了丹尼斯·库西尼奇这位极左的，曾两度竞选总统的前国会议员。

Cordray is hardly a corporate-friendly Democrat—

科德雷很难说得上是一个亲企业型的民主党人——

he was handpicked for his last job, director of the bank watchdog Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, by liberal warrior Elizabeth Warren—

他的上一职位是银行监管机构“消费者金融保护局”局长一职，当时是自由斗士伊丽莎白·沃伦亲自挑选他担任的——

but he lacked Kucinich’s crusading zeal and new-age vibes.

但他缺乏库西尼奇那种十字军般的热忱和新时代的那种律动。