纽约时报 要么绝对忠诚 要么出局(2)（在线收听）

This fealty hardly guarantees Mr. Trump re-election:

他们的这种忠诚堪称有力地确保了特朗普的连任机会：

He has never garnered a 50 percent approval rating as president

身为总统的他支持率从未达到50%，

and over half of voters tell pollsters they will oppose him no matter who the Democrats nominate.

且超过半数的选民都对民调机构表示，无论民主党提名谁，他们都会反对他。

But the shoulder-to-shoulder unity stands in contrast to Democrats at the moment,

共和党的一致团结与此时民主党内部的情形——初选期间温和派与自由派一直争论不休，

with their contentious moderate-versus-liberal primary that was on full display in Thursday night's debate.

周四晚间的辩论更是充分地暴露了这一问题——形成了鲜明的对比。

And it is all the more striking given Mr. Trump's deviations from longstanding party orthodoxy on issues like foreign policy and tariffs.

鉴于特朗普在外交政策，关税等问题上再三偏离共和党长期以来的正统立场，这一点就更加引人注目了。

"He has a complete connection with the average Republican voter and that's given him political power here,"

“他做到了与党内的普通选民心意相通，正是这一优势赋予了他在此地的政治地位，”

said Representative Patrick McHenry, Republican of North Carolina,

北卡罗来纳州共和党众议员帕特里克·麦克亨利说。

adding: "Trump has touched the nerve of my conservative base like no person in my lifetime."

接着，他又说道：“我这辈子还没见过有谁能像特朗普那样打动我保守派的基层。”

Interviews with current and former Republican lawmakers as well as party strategists,

对共和党现任议员，前任议员以及该党政策专家——

many of whom requested anonymity so as not to publicly cross the president,

他们中间有许多人都要求匿名，以免公开惹怒特朗普——的采访显示，

suggest that many elected officials are effectively faced with two choices.

许多当选官员实则都已陷入两难之境。

They can vote with their feet by retiring —

他们可以选择退休，不再支持共和党——

and a remarkable 40 percent of Republican members of Congress have done so

特朗普就职以来，国会已有足足40%的共和党议员选择退出，

or have been defeated at the ballot box since Mr.Trump took office —

或是在投票环节败下阵来——

Or they can mute their criticism of him.

也可以选择闭口不作批评特朗普之语。

All the incentives that shape political behavior — with voters, donors and the news media —

所有左右政治行为的因素——连同选民、金主以及新闻媒体一起——

compel Republicans to bow to Mr.Trump if they want to survive.

都在逼迫共和党人，要想生存，便只能向特朗普低头。

Sitting in a garland-bedecked hotel restaurant in his former district,

此时此刻，特洛特正坐在底特律郊区一家装饰有花环的酒店餐厅内，如今，这里已不再是他的选区。

Mr. Trott said that he did not want to seek re-election "as a Trumper" —

特洛特称，他不想“以特朗普粉”的姿态寻求连任——

and that he knew he had little future in the party as an opponent of the president.

不过他也知道，反对总统的他在党内几乎已经没有任何前程可言。

There is no market, he said, for independence.

他说，独立已经没有了市场。

Divergence from Trumpism will never be good enough for Democrats;

对民主党而言，仅仅是与特朗普主义反向而行还远远不够；

Mr. Trump will target you among Republicans, Mr. Trott added,

特朗普和共和党人都会针对你，特洛特接着说道，

and the vanishing voters from the political middle will never have a chance to reward you

逐渐消失的中间派选民也没有机会感激你，

because you would not make it through a primary.

因为你连杀出初选的可能都没有。