时代周刊:美国的分裂(4)

Not that he particularly tried. Strategists of both parties believe the campaign was winnable for the incumbent¹ if he had embraced a more traditional strategy and style—something his entire presidency² has shown him to be uninterested in doing. Discarding the advice of the political professionals, Trump³ insisted on rerunning the 2016 election, down to the leaked emails and antiestablishment rhetoric⁴. He made little alteration⁵ to his bull-in-a-china-shop attitude, even though the hellscape he raged against was now one that unfolded on his watch. "COVID certainly didn't help, but this election was about the President's performance over the last four years, not just the last nine months," says Brendan Buck⁶, a former top adviser⁷ to the GOP ex–House Speaker Paul Ryan. "It was four years of bumbling his way through every issue, alienating⁸ everyone who didn't agree with him, and never being able to use the tools he had for any particular good."

并不是说他特别地努力。两党的战略家们都认为，如果现任总统能够采取更传统的策略和风格——他的整个总统任期都表明他对传统不感兴趣——那么他就能够赢得这场竞选。特朗普不顾政治专业人士的建议，坚持重播2016年大选，甚至包括泄露的电子邮件和反建制言论。他几乎从未改变他那种“牛进中国店”的态度，尽管他所怒斥的地狱景象现在是在他的眼皮底下展开的。共和党前众议院议长保罗·瑞安的前高级顾问布伦丹·巴克说：“新冠当然没什么好处，但这场选举关乎总统在过去四年的表现，而不仅仅是过去九个月的表现，四年来，他在每个问题上都磕磕绊绊，疏远了所有与他意见不同的人，也从未把他拥有的工具用于任何特定的用途。”

As Trump careened from one outrage⁹ to another, Biden limited his campaign to theatrically¹⁰ cautious appearances: masked speeches to small, distanced groups; "drive-in" rallies where attendees sat in their cars. The longtime pol known for his garrulousness¹¹ and gaffes¹² stuck unerringly to the script. Many lines in his final TV ads were identical to what he said when he launched his campaign a year and a half before. Unusually for a general-election candidate, Biden actually saw his standing¹³ with the public improve over the course of the campaign. Only about 10% of the ads aired by Biden's campaign and allies were attacks on Trump, according to the Wesleyan Media Project. His campaign believed that his themes of unity¹⁴, compassion¹⁵ and expertise¹⁶ were an implicit¹⁷ rebuke¹⁸ to the incumbent. "The message has been incredibly consistent: an implicit contrast between Trump's character flaws and their consequences for real people," says Democratic strategist Jesse Ferguson, a veteran of Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign. "Trump is selfabsorbed and chaotic¹⁹; Biden is the opposite: in it for others, stable, the antidote²⁰ to everything Trump represents." But Democrats²¹ now wonder if Biden, like Clinton before him, put too much emphasis on character and not enough on kitchen-table issues, and whether his decision not to campaign more in person was a missed opportunity.

在特朗普从一个愤怒转向另一个愤怒之际，拜登限制了自己的竞选活动，以戏剧而谨慎的方式亮相：戴着口罩，演讲群体为小规模且保持安全社交距离；“免下车”集会，参与者坐在自己的车里。这位以饶舌和失态而闻名的老牌政治领袖完完全全按剧本行事。在他最后的电视广告当中，有许多台词和他一年半前竞选时所说的台词一模一样。作为大选候选人，不寻常的是，拜登在竞选过程中确实看到了自己在公众心目中地位的提升。据卫斯理媒体项目称，拜登的竞选团队和盟友发布的广告中只有大约10%是针对特朗普的攻击。他的竞选团队认为，他的团结、同情和专业知识等主题是对现任总统的含蓄谴责。民主党策略师杰西·弗格森表示：“这一信息极其地一致，这是特朗普性格缺陷与其对现实生活的影响之间的含蓄对比。”弗格森曾在2016年参加希拉里·克林顿的竞选活动。“特朗普只顾自己，混乱不堪；而拜登则相反：对其他人来说，稳定是特朗普所代表的一切的解药。”但民主党人现在怀疑，拜登是否像之前的克林顿一样，过于强调个性而对细小问题关注不够，他不亲自参加竞选的决定是否错失了一个机会。

1 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

2 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

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 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

5 alteration   

n.变更，改变；蚀变

参考例句：

• The shirt needs alteration.这件衬衣需要改一改。
• He easily perceived there was an alteration in my countenance.他立刻看出我的脸色和往常有些不同。

6 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

7 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

8 alienating   

v.使疏远( alienate的现在分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• The phenomena of alienation are widespread. Sports are also alienating. 异化现象普遍存在，体育运动也不例外。 来自互联网
• How can you appeal to them without alienating the mainstream crowd? 你是怎么在不疏忽主流玩家的情况下吸引住他们呢？ 来自互联网

9 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

10 theatrically   

adv.戏剧化地

参考例句：

• He looked theatrically at his watch. 他夸张地看看表。 来自柯林斯例句

11 garrulousness   

参考例句：

12 gaffes   

n.失礼，出丑( gaffe的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The presidential candidate made three mistakes, or gaffes, during his speech. 校长候选人在演讲中出了三次错，或失态。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• When the microphones were on, gaffes gushed from his lips. 而当电话响起，他却口无遮拦，屡屡失言。 来自互联网

13 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

14 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

15 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

16 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

17 implicit   

a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的

参考例句：

• A soldier must give implicit obedience to his officers. 士兵必须绝对服从他的长官。
• Her silence gave implicit consent. 她的沉默表示默许。

18 rebuke   

v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise

参考例句：

• He had to put up with a smart rebuke from the teacher.他不得不忍受老师的严厉指责。
• Even one minute's lateness would earn a stern rebuke.哪怕迟到一分钟也将受到严厉的斥责。

19 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

20 antidote   

n.解毒药，解毒剂

参考例句：

• There is no known antidote for this poison.这种毒药没有解药。
• Chinese physicians used it as an antidote for snake poison.中医师用它来解蛇毒。

21 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》