2020年经济学人 莱克星顿专栏--美国大选之战的缩影(2)（在线收听）

Northampton County, of which it is the capital, was one of three in Pennsylvania that flipped to the Republicans in 2016, giving Mr Trump the state by a whisker. True to form, the quadrant of four streets around which Lexington accompanied Karen Frey, an amiable Republican foot-soldier wearing a red “Deplorables Club” sweatshirt (and not wearing the Trump 2020 face-mask that dangled, alongside a stun-gun, “rape alarm” and mace spray, from her wrist), displayed Trump and Biden signs in similar measure.

北安普顿县是是宾夕法尼亚州的一个中心郡县，也是在2016年向共和党倒戈的宾州的三个郡县之一，这使特朗普获得了该州的优势。和往常一样，笔者陪同凯伦·弗雷游走于四个街道。凯伦·弗雷是一位亲切友好的共和党步兵，她穿着一件带有“蠢货俱乐部”的运动衫（她没有佩戴带有“特朗普2020”标识的口罩，而是挂在手腕上，还并排一起挂着一把电击枪、防强奸警报器和防狼喷雾剂）。每个街头都以类似的手段来展示特朗普和拜登的标志。

They otherwise offered no clue to the occupants’ affiliation. Outside the 40-odd houses Mrs Frey called on, a Virgin Mary statue or “We support our police” flag was no likelier to denote a Republican than a Democratic household. At a corner of Hickory Lane, the occupant displayed signs supporting the police, teachers and Mr Biden. “We’re not Trump here, keep walking,” he yelled at Mrs Frey through his car window. The suburb is a throwback to pre-sort America, but bristling with post-sort partisanship. The result is a rare microcosmic view of what partisanship is doing to America.

另外，很多住户并没有提供关于自己观点的线索。除了弗雷女士拜访的40多间房子以外，拥有圣母玛利亚雕像或“我们支持我们的警察”的旗帜的住户不太可能支持共和党，更像是支持民主党。在胡桃巷的一个角落里，居住者展示了支持警察、教师和拜登的标志。他透过车窗对弗雷女士喊道，“我们这里不支持特朗普，你走吧。”郊区是对美国前分类的回归，但是却充斥着后分类的党派偏见。结果形成了党派偏见对美国影响的缩影。

Very few who answered the door claimed to be undecided—and most were probably, as Mrs Frey conceded, being kind. Only one voter expressed weak feelings about her choice. “I vote for the party, not the candidate,” said Lisa, a lifelong Republican staunchly against abortion. Everyone else appeared fiercely decided.

开门的人中很少有人会声称自己还没有做决定，弗雷女士承认，大多数人开门只是出于好心。只有一位选民对自己的选择表示了微弱的看法。丽莎是一位终生坚决反对堕胎的共和党人，她表示，“我投票支持的是共和党，与候选人无关。”其他人似乎都很坚决。

Given that just over half were planning to vote Democratic (“This year more than ever,” several said), this gave rise to awkward scenes. “I’m sorry, I’m sure you’re a nice person, but I’m 92 years old, I’ve voted for Republicans and Democrats, and I cannot understand how you can like him,” a man on Hickory Lane told Mrs Frey.

鉴于有超过半数的人计划投票支持民主党（“今年比以往任何时候都要多，”一些人说），这就导致了尴尬局面。“对不起，我相信你是个好人，但我已经92岁了，我投票支持过共和党，也支持过民主党，但我不明白你怎么会喜欢他，”胡桃巷的一名男子告诉弗雷女士。

He then launched a fact-filled evisceration of Mr Trump’s record, before ending, fighting back tears, on a personal note. “My father came from Italy. Trump hates migrants. My five dead brothers fought for this country. The son-of-a-bitch calls them suckers.” When Mrs Frey, visibly shaken, said this was untrue, the man quoted the president’s slander of John McCain. Mrs Frey countered with a fake-news story—that the late Republican senator killed scores of sailors in a fire. “God bless you,” said the old man.

随后，他根据事实依据对特朗普的政绩进行了全面剖析，最后他强忍泪水，结束了这一行为。“我父亲来自意大利。特朗普讨厌移民。我死去的五个兄弟曾经为美国而战。但那个混蛋却称他们是笨蛋。”当时弗雷夫人明显受到惊吓，她表示，这没有事实根据，那名男子引用了麦凯恩对总统的诽谤。弗雷女士用一则假新闻反驳道，麦凯恩这位已故的共和党参议员用一场大火杀死了几十名水手。“上帝保佑你，”老人说。