美国国家公共电台 NPR--What California District Attorney Chesa Boudin's recall means for Democrats

What California District Attorney Chesa Boudin's recall means for Democrats²

Transcript³

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Matt Bennett, co-founder of center-left think tank Third Way, about what the results from California's primary mean for the Democratic party nationwide.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

What do yesterday's results tell us about the Democratic Party at this moment, just months out from the midterms? I'm joined by Matt Bennett. He's co-founder of Third Way, a center-left think tank in Washington. Thanks for being on the program, Matt.

MATT BENNETT: Morning, Leila.

FADEL: Good morning. So what's your take on what happened in these two local elections?

BENNETT: Well, I think what you're seeing in these two big elections is a microcosm of what Democrats are facing nationally. On the one hand, Boudin is a far-left politician and candidate. And he - while he might be singular, as your former guest just said, he speaks very loudly, and as the far left of our party tends to do. And that has impact not only for himself, obviously - he lost that race because he went too far even for Democrats in San Francisco - but it has impact nationally. And I think what happened in the Bass⁴ race, where she's now in a runoff in a race that she had been expected to win, is she's a very mainstream⁵ Democrat¹. She's the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus⁶. She was on the short list for vice⁷ president for Biden. But she's kind of caught up in the same narrative⁸ about what - who Democrats are on crime that a lot of other mainstream Democrats are. And that's going to be a real issue in the fall.

FADEL: But how much of this is due to a really well-funded anti-progressive campaign from law enforcement unions, Conservatives? Because it's not like a spike⁹ in crime is exclusive to cities led by progressive officials.

BENNETT: It is not. And some of that has certainly had a big impact here. And there's been a lot of money that's flowed in from the right. But I think you have to recognize that...

FADEL: Yeah.

BENNETT: ...It's also true that Democrats have spoken loudly when they've weighed in on these issues in the last year or so. In New York City, Eric Adams won by running as a tough-on-crime Democrat. In Minneapolis, they had a referendum on defunding the police that lost overwhelmingly. And the people who voted for it - voted against the referendum in the biggest numbers were people in Black and brown communities. And I think you're seeing that kind of all over the country.

FADEL: You know, as Steve and Marisa noted¹⁰, there are several issues that could drive voters for the midterms. But deadly gun violence is spiking¹¹. And it seems like Democratic voters last night were saying they're unhappy with how the left is handling crime or impatient for results from efforts to address the deeper issues at play. How big of a problem might this pose for the party on the national level with the midterms coming up?

BENNETT: Well, I think Joe Biden has taken real steps to address the problem nationally in terms of the Democratic brand on crime. You heard him in the State of the Union say that we should fund the police, not defund. That was reflected in his budget. And he's been very clear about this from the beginning, even when he was running for president as a candidate. So our hope is that the national brand has shifted on this and that these issues will be less potent¹² in the fall. But I think what we saw in 2020 was defund the police had an enormous impact on people, Democrats, running in marginal districts. You know, we lost 14 House Democrats on the same ballot¹³ that Joe Biden won in part because of defund. The aggressive effort to turn that around hopefully will have had impact by November.

FADEL: Now, a lot of progressives came to office when Democratic voters marched against excessive policing in 2020 after the killing¹⁴ of George Floyd and many others. Now, only two years later, it seems like a shift. Is that exclusive to California? Is that across the country?

BENNETT: I think it's nationwide. And look; there's no question that Democrats are committed to police reform. We saw in the wake of the Floyd murder that that is desperately¹⁵ needed. But that does not mean the same thing as defunding the police or taking police out of communities that are most vulnerable to crime. And what we have found over and over is that the far left, which purports¹⁶ to speak for those communities, actually doesn't. Those communities vote quite differently than people like Boudin claim they're representative. And it turns out they're not.

FADEL: The other notable thing out of California was turnout. It's one of the bluest of blue states. And early indications are that turnout was pretty low. What does that tell you about the situation of the Democratic Party right now, just months before the election?

BENNETT: Well, it might be that enthusiasm is low. But it's hard to tell from these primaries that happen in weird¹⁷ times. I mean, we're in June. People are not, for the most part, thinking about politics. So it's hard to draw conclusions about what will be happening in November from these springtime primaries. But you always would prefer to see people turning out.

FADEL: The co-founder of the think tank the Third Way. Matt Bennett, thank you so much for being on the program.

BENNETT: Thank you.

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

5 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

6 caucus   

n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议

参考例句：

• This multi-staged caucus takes several months.这个多级会议常常历时好几个月。
• It kept the Democratic caucus from fragmenting.它也使得民主党的核心小组避免了土崩瓦解的危险。

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

9 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

10 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

11 spiking   

n.尖峰形成v.加烈酒于( spike的现在分词 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划

参考例句：

• High spiking fever with chills is suggestive of a complicating pylephlebitis. 伴有寒战的高热，暗示合并门静脉炎。 来自辞典例句
• We could be spiking our own guns. 我们可能要遭到失败。 来自辞典例句

12 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。

13 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

14 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

15 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

16 purports   

v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She purports to represent the whole group. 她自称代表整个团体。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The document purports to be official but is really private. 那份文件据称是官方的，但实际上是私人的。 来自辞典例句

17 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。