2020年经济学人 莱克星顿专栏--美国大选之战的缩影(3)

“It multiplies,” said Mrs Frey enigmatically, as she walked away. Though she knocked on “over 3,000 doors” in 2016, she did not seem used to such pushback. Modern campaigns aim canvassers almost exclusively at likely voters for their own side; she had kindly¹ decided² to knock on every door mainly as a favour to Lexington. It was also apparent from her assertions, which tended to be untrue, that Mrs Frey inhabited a deep realm of the Trump³ bubble.

弗雷女士莫名其妙地说，“它”，随即离开了。尽管她在2016年敲开了“3000多扇门”，但她似乎从未遭遇过这样的拒绝。现代竞选活动旨在让几乎所有的拉票人尽可能为自己的一方争取选民；她善意地决定敲开每一扇门，主要是为了帮助笔者。从弗雷女士不真实的声称中也可以明显看出，她已然深陷于“特朗普泡沫”而无法自拔。

Considering much of Fox News “too liberal”, she got her news from the far-right One America News Network and Epoch⁴ Times, a pro-Trump newspaper produced by the Falun Gong sect⁵ that has spread the anti-Semitic QAnon conspiracy⁶. When she encountered a like-minded voter, her relief was palpable. On their doorsteps she referred to Joe Biden as a “communist” and any self-professed Christians⁷ who voted Democratic as “Satan-worshippers”.

考虑到福克斯新闻“过于自由”，她从极右翼的全体美国新闻网和《大纪元时报》（一份由法轮功制作的支持特朗普的报纸，传播了卡农的反犹阴谋论）找到了自己想要的新闻。当她遇到一位志同道合的选民时，她的欣慰之情溢于言表。在他们家门口，她把乔·拜登称为“共产主义者”，并称任何自称即基督徒却投票支持民主党的都是“撒旦崇拜者”。

Lee Drutman, a political scientist, attributes the mutual⁸ loathing⁹ of America’s political tribes to three things: cultural sorting (including media bubbles); the slim margins¹⁰ of national elections, which makes them seem existential to both sides; and the nationalisation of politics, which has bulldozed local concerns that once girded communities. All are evident in Easton—though its muchprovoked voters live cheek-by-jowl. What lessons does that offer?

政治学家李·德鲁特曼将美国政治部落之间的的相互憎恶归结为三个方面：文化类别（包括媒体泡沫）；美国大选的微弱优势导致选举双方相互憎恶；以及政治的国有化消除了一度困扰美国社区的担忧。在伊斯顿，所有这些都是显而易见的，尽管当地的选民们紧密生活在一起。这提供了什么教训？

One is that politics exaggerates reality. While several voters expressed unease about their neighbours’ allegiances, your columnist¹¹ saw nothing to suggest a community anything like as divided as the political views its members expressed. On a sunny Saturday morning, Trumpers and anti-Trumps mowed¹² lawns and walked dogs together. Outside elections, most of them probably give politics little thought. Given the state of things, that is consoling.

一是政治夸大了实际情况。尽管一些选民为他们的邻居的拥护对象而十分不安，笔者还是认为没有任何迹象表明社区会分裂，就像社区成员表达的政治观点分歧那样。在一个阳光明媚的周六早晨，支持特朗普的人和反对特朗普的人一起修剪草坪，遛狗。在选举之外，他们中的大多数人可能很少考虑政治问题。从目前的情况来看，这是一种安慰。

Yet this election will prove harder to recover from—because Republicans, taking their cues from the president, are already trying to invalidate it. Almost Mrs Frey’s first words to your columnist were: “We’re trying to win without stuffing ballots¹³, we’re the Republican Party.” She repeatedly assured voters that mail-in voting was fraudulent. This promises a new order of conflict for a society whose forbearance cannot be counted on indefinitely.

然而事实证明，这次选举将更难恢复，因为共和党人从总统那里得到了暗示，他们已经试图使选举无效。弗雷女士对笔者说的第一句话几乎是：“我们要在不增加选票的情况下获胜，我们是共和党。”她反复向选民保证，邮寄投票是欺诈性的。我们不能指望社会是无限期的包容的，而他们的所作所为可能会给我们社会带来了新的冲突秩序。

1 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 epoch   

n.(新)时代；历元

参考例句：

• The epoch of revolution creates great figures.革命时代造就伟大的人物。
• We're at the end of the historical epoch,and at the dawn of another.我们正处在一个历史时代的末期，另一个历史时代的开端。

5 sect   

n.派别，宗教，学派，派系

参考例句：

• When he was sixteen he joined a religious sect.他16岁的时候加入了一个宗教教派。
• Each religious sect in the town had its own church.该城每一个宗教教派都有自己的教堂。

6 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

7 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

8 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

9 loathing   

n.厌恶，憎恨v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的现在分词)；极不喜欢

参考例句：

• She looked at her attacker with fear and loathing . 她盯着襲擊她的歹徒，既害怕又憎恨。
• They looked upon the creature with a loathing undisguised. 他们流露出明显的厌恶看那动物。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 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。

11 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

12 mowed   

v.刈，割( mow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The enemy were mowed down with machine-gun fire. 敌人被机枪的火力扫倒。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Men mowed the wide lawns and seeded them. 人们割了大片草地的草，然后在上面播种。 来自辞典例句

13 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》