2020年经济学人 莱克星顿专栏--美国史上最混乱总统辩论落幕(1)（在线收听）

United States

美国版块

Lexington

莱克星顿专栏

The end of the debate

总统辩论的结束

The president turns a globally respected American institution into a national embarrassment

特朗普总统使本来备受推崇的竞选辩论这一美国制度沦为全国笑柄。

Among the institutions Donald Trump has attacked in the past three and a half years, the televised presidential debate might not seem much. It does not guarantee the rule of law, protect the environment or defend the homeland. It has hardly ever been electorally significant. Maybe only the first televised duel, which pitted a sweaty, shady looking Richard Nixon against a youthful, make-up wearing John Kennedy in 1960, materially affected a race. Yet at a time when some of the most basic assumptions about American democracy are being challenged by Mr Trump’s scorched-earth presidency, as he illustrated with a debate performance of stunning brutishness in Cleveland on September 29th, the merits of the format are worth recalling.

在过去三年半中，唐纳德·特朗普抨击了许多制度，但是他却没怎么提到总统电视辩论。总统电视辩论既不能保障法治，也不能保护环境，更没法保卫国家。它对于大选的影响并不大。也许只有1960年进行的第一届总统电视辩论实质性地影响到了美国大选。当时，满头大汗、脸色阴暗的理查德·尼克松与年轻且化着妆的约翰·肯尼迪进行了对决。然而，美国民主的一些最基本的假定正在被特朗普的焦土政策毁坏，正如9月29日在克利夫兰举行的首场总统辩论上，特朗普的鲁莽表现令人咂舌。这时，总统电视辩论形式的优点令人回顾。

Before this week they were threefold. The president, setting aside the exalted status and electoral advantages of incumbency, must submit to the same pre-agreed rules as his challenger. (No president since Nixon, following his humiliation in 1960, has ducked the format.) Second— and notwithstanding a mountain of evidence that most people do not vote on the basis of such things— debates affirm the importance of plans and ideas. This projects a degree of seriousness that is otherwise largely absent from most political coverage.

这个星期之前举办过的总统电视辩论有三点值得怀念。总统要抛开崇高地位和在任优势，和竞争者一样遵从相同的预先商定的规则。（自1960年尼克松受辱以来，没有一位总统回避过这种形式。）其次，电视辩论肯定了总统的计划和想法的重要性，尽管有大量证据表明，大多数人不会基于这些东西进行投票。这表明了某种程度的严肃性，而这一点被大多数政治报道所忽视。

The candidates’ competing proposals also underline the degree to which elections are a choice. And because they are essentially making their pitches to a vast television audience, the debates also underline how that the choice falls to ordinary Americans. Boosted by a paucity of campaigning because of covid-19, the 90-minute, ad-free event in Cleveland was watched by an estimated 80m, over half the electorate. Millions more watched around the world— which speaks to a third quality of the presidential debate.

候选人的竞选提案也凸显了选举的选择程度。总统电视辩论实际上是在向广大电视观众宣传，因此辩论也强调了这种选择权是如何落入普通美国人手中的。受到新冠肺炎疫情的影响，竞选活动寥寥无几，在克利夫兰举行的为时90分钟的无广告的活动吸引了8000万观众，超过半数选民观看。世界各地有数百万人观看了这场总统辩论。这表明了总统电视辩论值得怀念的第三个方面。