时代周刊:美国的分裂(7)（在线收听）

If Biden does take office, he will confront a set of challenges like few Presidents before him. He has laid out a comprehensive—and expensive—federal plan to combat the COVID-19 pandemic that includes promoting mask wearing, ramping up testing and the production of protective equipment, improving information transparency and scientific reopening guidance, and creating and distributing a vaccine. Democrats have previously proposed trillions in new spending to help individuals, businesses and local governments and shore up the health care system needs that will only grow in the coming months.

如果拜登真的就职，那么他将面临一系列的挑战，这是在他之前的总统很少遇到的。他制定了一项全面而昂贵的联邦计划来抗击新冠，包括提倡戴口罩、加强检测和防护设备的生产、提高信息透明度、做好重新开放相关科学指导以及制造和分发疫苗。民主党此前曾提议新增加数万亿美元支出来帮助个人、企业和地方政府并支撑未来几个月才会增长的医疗保健系统需求。

The coronavirus is far from the only problem Biden and the Democrats have promised to solve. A former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden would likely devote great attention to restoring America's traditional trade and security alliances. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently said the congressional agenda for 2021 would include a major infrastructure bill and an expansion of health care. Liberals will be pushing for fast action on police reform, climate and immigration. Democrats have been remarkably unified since Biden effectively sewed up the nomination in March, but the party's left wing has signaled it will not be so deferential once victory is in hand. Progressive groups have been circulating lists of potential Biden nominees they would (and would not) accept for key Administration posts.

新冠并非拜登和民主党承诺要解决的唯一一个问题。拜登作为前参议院外交关系委员会主席，他可能会把重心放在恢复美国的传统贸易和安全联盟上。近期，众议院议长佩洛西称，2021年国会的议程将包括一项重大基础设施法案和扩大医疗保健。自由派将推动在警察改革、气候和移民问题上迅速采取行动。自3月拜登获得有效提名之后，民主党人一直非常团结，但该党左翼已经暗示，一旦胜利在握，他们便不会如此恭敬了。进步团体一直在分发会(和不会)接受拜登关键行政职位的潜在候选人名单。

Four years of Trump have left Democrats with few worries about overreading their mandate. "If we win the election, we have a mandate to make change, period," says Guy Cecil, president of the Democratic super PAC Priorities USA. But if Republicans retain their hold on the Senate, prospects for major legislation will be dim. Republicans had won 48 seats as of the evening of Nov. 4, with at least one January runoff in Georgia that could decide the balance of power in the chamber.

经过特朗普的四年任期，民主党人并不怎么担心越权问题。民主党超级政治行动委员会“优先美国”的主席盖伊·塞西尔称：“如果我们赢得了选举，那么我们就有权利做出改变。”然而，如果共和党依旧在参议员占据主导地位，那么重大立法的前景将变得黯淡。截至11月4日晚，共和党已经赢得了48个席位。1月份佐治亚州于至少有一次决选，这或许将决定众议院的权力平衡。

Whatever the ultimate result, the election exposed the shaky edifice of U.S. democracy. From the antiquated governing institutions that increasingly reward minoritarian rule, to the badly wounded norms surrounding the independent administration of justice, to the flimsy protections of supposedly universal suffrage, to the nation's balky and underfunded election infrastructure, Trump's presidency has laid bare the weaknesses in our system. But initiatives to reform campaign finance, government ethics and voting rights seem fated to run aground in a divided Washington.

无论最终结果如何，这次选举都暴露了美国民主大厦的不稳固。从日益推崇少数主义统治的过时的管理机制到以独立司法为中心的严重受损的规范，再到所谓普选权的脆弱保护以及美国选举基础设施的僵化和资金的不足，特朗普的总统任期暴露了美国体制的弱点。而竞选资金、政府道德以及投票权改革的主动性也注定要在分裂的华盛顿搁浅。