时代周刊:揭秘拯救2020年大选的"影子运动秘史"(2)

The handshake between business and labor¹ was just one component² of a vast, cross-partisan campaign to protect the election—an extraordinary shadow effort

企业与劳工之间的握手只是保护选举的大规模跨党派运动的一部分——这是一项非同寻常的影子努力，

dedicated³ not to winning the vote but to ensuring it would be free and fair, credible⁴ and uncorrupted.

目的不是为了赢得选举，而是为了确保选举是自由、公正、可信和廉洁的。

For more than a year, a loosely organized coalition⁵ of operatives scrambled⁶ to shore up America's institutions

在一年多的时间里，一个组织松散的特工联盟争相支持美国的机构，

as they came under simultaneous attack from a remorseless pandemic and an autocratically inclined President.

因为它们同时受到无情的流行病和有独裁倾向的总统的攻击。

Though much of this activity took place on the left, it was separate from the Biden campaign and crossed ideological⁷ lines, with crucial contributions by nonpartisan and conservative actors.

尽管这些活动大多发生在左翼，但它们与拜登的竞选活动无关，而且跨越了意识形态的界限，无党派人士和保守派人士做出了至关重要的贡献。

The scenario⁸ the shadow campaigners were desperate to stop was not a Trump⁹ victory.

影子竞选者不顾一切地阻止特朗普获胜。

It was an election so calamitous¹⁰ that no result could be discerned at all, a failure of the central act of democratic self-governance that has been a hallmark of America since its founding.

这是一场灾难性的选举，结果无从得知，这是民主自治的核心行为的失败，而民主自治自建国以来一直是美国的标志。

Their work touched every aspect of the election. They got states to change voting systems and laws and helped secure hundreds of millions in public and private funding.

他们的工作涉及选举的各个方面。他们让各州改变了投票制度和法律，并帮助确保了数亿美元的公共和私人资金。

They fended¹¹ off voter-suppression lawsuits¹², recruited armies of poll workers and got millions of people to vote by mail for the first time.

他们避开了选民压制诉讼，招募了大批投票工作人员，并首次通过邮件让数百万人投票。

They successfully pressured social media companies to take a harder line against disinformation and used data-driven strategies to fight viral smears¹³.

他们成功地迫使社交媒体公司对虚假信息采取更强硬的立场，并使用数据驱动的策略对抗病毒式传播的诽谤和谣言。

They executed national public-awareness campaigns that helped Americans understand how the vote count would unfold over days or weeks,

他们开展了全国性的提高公众意识的运动，帮助美国人理解计票工作将在几天或几周内展开，

preventing Trump's conspiracy¹⁴ theories and false claims of victory from getting more traction¹⁵.

防止特朗普的阴谋论和虚假胜利声明获得更多关注。

After Election Day, they monitored every pressure point to ensure that Trump could not overturn the result.

在选举日之后，他们监控了每一个压力点，以确保特朗普不能推翻结果。

"The untold¹⁶ story of the election is the thousands of people of both parties who accomplished¹⁷ the triumph of American democracy at its very foundation," says Norm Eisen,

著名律师、前奥巴马政府官员诺姆·艾森(Norm Eisen)说：“选举中鲜为人知的故事是，两党成千上万的人在美国民主的基础上取得了胜利。”

a prominent lawyer and former Obama Administration official who recruited Republicans and Democrats¹⁸ to the board of the Voter Protection Project.

艾森曾将共和党和民主党人招入选民保护项目(Voter Protection Project)的董事会。

For Trump and his allies were running their own campaign to spoil the election.

因为特朗普和他的盟友正在进行自己的竞选活动来破坏选举。

The President spent months insisting that mail ballots¹⁹ were a Democratic plot and the election would be "rigged."

几个月来总统一直坚称邮寄选票是民主党的阴谋，选举将被“操纵”。

His henchmen at the state level sought to block their use, while his lawyers brought dozens of spurious suits to make it more difficult to vote—an intensification²⁰ of the GOP's legacy²¹ of suppressive tactics.

他在州一级的亲信们试图阻止他们的使用，而他的律师们则提出了几十个伪造的诉讼来增加投票的难度——这是对共和党遗留下来的压制战术的强化。

Before the election, Trump plotted to block a legitimate²² vote count.

大选前，特朗普密谋阻止一次合法的计票。

And he spent the months following Nov. 3 trying to steal the election he'd lost—with lawsuits and conspiracy theories, pressure on state and local officials,

在11月3日之后的几个月里，他试图窃取他输掉的选举——通过诉讼和阴谋论，向州和地方官员施压，

and finally summoning his army of supporters to the Jan. 6 rally that ended in deadly violence at the Capitol.

最终召集他的支持者大军参加1月6日的集会，该集会最终在国会大厦发生了致命的暴力事件。

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

3 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

4 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

5 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

6 scrambled   

v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Each scrambled for the football at the football ground. 足球场上你争我夺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He scrambled awkwardly to his feet. 他笨拙地爬起身来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

8 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

9 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。

10 calamitous   

adj.灾难的，悲惨的；多灾多难；惨重

参考例句：

• We are exposed to the most calamitous accidents. 我们遭受着极大的灾难。 来自辞典例句
• Light reveals the subtle alteration of things, the sly or calamitous impermanence or mortal life. 事物的细微变动，人生的狡猾，倏忽无常，一一都在光中显露出来。 来自辞典例句

11 fended   

v.独立生活，照料自己( fend的过去式和过去分词 )；挡开，避开

参考例句：

• He neatly fended off a jab at his chest. 他利落地挡开了当胸的一击。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I fended off his sword thrust with my spear. 他一刀砍来，我拿枪架住。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

13 smears   

污迹( smear的名词复数 )； 污斑； （显微镜的）涂片； 诽谤

参考例句：

• His evidence was a blend of smears, half truths and downright lies. 他的证词里掺杂着诽谤、部份的事实和彻头彻尾的谎言。
• Anything written with a soft pencil smears easily. 用软铅笔写成的东西容易污成一片。

14 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。

15 traction   

n.牵引；附着摩擦力

参考例句：

• I'll show you how the traction is applied.我会让你看如何做这种牵引。
• She's injured her back and is in traction for a month.她背部受伤，正在作一个月的牵引治疗。

16 untold   

adj.数不清的，无数的

参考例句：

• She has done untold damage to our chances.她给我们的机遇造成了不可估量的损害。
• They suffered untold terrors in the dark and huddled together for comfort.他们遭受着黑暗中的难以言传的种种恐怖，因而只好挤在一堆互相壮胆。

17 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

18 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》

19 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》

20 intensification   

n.激烈化，增强明暗度；加厚

参考例句：

• The intensification of the immunological response represents the body's natural defense. 增强免疫反应代表身体的自然保卫。 来自辞典例句
• Agriculture in the developing nations is not irreversibly committed, to a particular pattern of intensification. 发展中国家的农业并没有完全为某种集约化形式所束缚。 来自辞典例句

21 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

22 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。