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Congressional elections

國(guó)會(huì)選舉

Immovable incumbents

在職者連任

The Republican primaries have produced fewerupsets than expected

共和黨競(jìng)選并沒(méi)有想象中那么讓人失望

JUSTIN AMASH, a congressman, represents one ofthe most conservative parts of Michigan. Pat Roberts (pictured), a member of the Senate,represents one of America’s most conservative states. After hard-fought campaigns both menwon their Republican Party primaries on August 5th and now look likely to retain their seats.The similarities end there.

賈斯汀·阿瑪施，一位代表密歇根最保守勢(shì)力的國(guó)會(huì)議員;派特·羅伯特，一位代表美國(guó)最保守州的上議院成員。他們二人都在8月5日的激烈選舉之后贏得了共和黨的競(jìng)選，保住了自己的位置。但他們二人的相同點(diǎn)也僅止于此了。

Mr Amash, who is 34, was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2010, riding the TeaParty wave that wiped out both Democrats and old-school Republicans. A staunch libertarian,he has alienated some in Congress with his stubbornness, which has earned him the nickname“Dr No”. He tried to oust John Boehner as Speaker and was duly punished, losing his seat onthe budget committee. Sensing an opportunity, business-minded Republicans backed MrAmash’s challenger in the primary, Brian Ellis. But Mr Amash whipped him, winning by 15points.

34歲的阿瑪施，于2010年首次入選美國(guó)眾議院，他借著茶黨的威力，洗清了民主黨人和老派的共和黨人。他是一位堅(jiān)定的自由主義者，由于固執(zhí)，他已在國(guó)會(huì)中與不少人矛盾疏遠(yuǎn)了，因此也獲得了“不先生”這一雅號(hào)。他試圖取代約翰·博納成為議長(zhǎng)，卻因此丟掉了自己的職位，并在財(cái)政預(yù)算委員會(huì)得到了應(yīng)有的懲罰。似乎感覺(jué)到這是個(gè)契機(jī)，具有商業(yè)頭腦的共和黨人們轉(zhuǎn)而支持阿瑪施的對(duì)手，布萊恩·埃利斯。然而最后，阿瑪施還是以15個(gè)百分點(diǎn)的優(yōu)勢(shì)壓倒埃利斯，獲得了勝利。

Pro-business Republicans have little beef with Mr Roberts, who is 78, but conservativeinsurgents were out for his blood. Having served 33 years in Congress (17 in the Senate), MrRoberts is the epitome of an establishment Republican. The main charge against him was thathe had become too comfortable in Washington. He admitted frankly that he owned no home inKansas and visited the state “every time I get an opponent”. His opponent this time, MiltonWolf, a doctor, was supported by national and local Tea Party groups, but it was not enough inthe end. Mr Roberts won by seven points.

親商的共和黨人們與羅伯特幾乎沒(méi)有矛盾，但是保守黨的叛亂者們卻反對(duì)他。羅伯特已經(jīng)在國(guó)會(huì)任命了33年，其中17年在上議院，他已經(jīng)成為了共和黨發(fā)展的縮影。對(duì)他的主要指控在于他在華盛頓過(guò)得過(guò)于舒服。他坦率地承認(rèn)他在堪薩斯毫無(wú)歸屬感，每回去一次，都會(huì)多一個(gè)新的反對(duì)者。這一次他的反對(duì)者是由國(guó)家和地方茶黨組織支持的彌爾頓·沃夫醫(yī)生，但這些人的勢(shì)力還是有限。羅伯特最終以7%的優(yōu)勢(shì)獲勝。

Drawing conclusions about the Republican Party from these results is difficult. For starters, bothincumbents faced underwhelming challengers. Mr Ellis’s campaign was so vicious that MrAmash refused to take his congratulatory phone call. Dr Wolf, a second cousin of BarackObama, ran a cleaner campaign and did better than expected. But he was tripped up when itwas discovered that he had posted X-rays of his patients on Facebook along with crude jokesabout them.

從以上這些情況想要總結(jié)出共和黨的情況可是件很難的事，無(wú)論對(duì)于想要參加競(jìng)選的人還是在位者來(lái)說(shuō)，這都是極大的挑戰(zhàn)。埃利斯的競(jìng)選過(guò)程太卑鄙，以至于阿瑪施拒絕回應(yīng)他打來(lái)的祝賀電話。對(duì)于沃夫醫(yī)生(他是奧巴馬的二堂弟)來(lái)說(shuō)，他的競(jìng)選過(guò)程相對(duì)而言比想象得更加光明正大一些。只可惜，他跪在了被人發(fā)現(xiàn)在FACEBOOK上用粗魯?shù)男υ捁�開(kāi)病人的X光情況。

The Republican primaries in Kansas and Michigan, and others elsewhere this year, seem to saymore about the power of incumbency than anything else. With just a few notable exceptions—such as Eric Cantor, the former House majority leader, who lost in June—those already inoffice have faced down challenges from candidates of all stripes. Indeed, Mr Roberts’s victorymakes it probable that for the first time since 2008 no incumbent Republican senator will losea primary.

共和黨在堪薩斯與密歇根的選舉以及今年在其他地方的一些選舉，似乎在位者職務(wù)上的權(quán)力被更多地提及到。正如一些顯著的案例，比如埃里克·康托爾，上一任議會(huì)多數(shù)派領(lǐng)袖，即在6月份落馬，這些正坐在辦公室里的在職者同樣都面臨著來(lái)自各色競(jìng)選者的壓力。無(wú)疑，羅伯特的勝出說(shuō)明在位者不能連任也是可能的，因?yàn)檫@是繼2008年以來(lái)在共和黨上議院第一次出現(xiàn)這樣的情況。

But the campaigns have raised the question of what makes a politician truly conservative, amantle grasped by nearly all of the Republican candidates. For Mr Amash it is a devotion toliberty that does not always suit Republican priorities. For Mr Roberts it seems less aboutideology and more about partisan loyalty. Republican leaders in Congress have had a difficulttime accommodating these competing visions. Judging by the primaries, their job will not getany easier.

但是這些競(jìng)選活動(dòng)也使到底是什么使得一個(gè)政客變得保守成為一個(gè)問(wèn)題，這幾乎是所有共和黨候選人都應(yīng)該掌握的職責(zé)。對(duì)于阿瑪施來(lái)說(shuō)，這是一種追求自由的奮斗，而非去迎合共和黨選舉。對(duì)于羅伯特來(lái)說(shuō)，這無(wú)關(guān)于理論空談，而更是一種黨派忠誠(chéng)度。共和黨在國(guó)會(huì)里的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人一直在艱難地適應(yīng)這種相互競(jìng)爭(zhēng)的環(huán)境，而從競(jìng)選過(guò)程來(lái)看，他們未來(lái)的工作只可能變得更難。

【重點(diǎn)講解】

1.likely to 傾向于;可能要

例句:The fires are likely to permanently deforestthe land.

這些火災(zāi)很可能會(huì)徹底毀掉這片土地上的森林。

2.wipe out 消滅;徹底摧毀

例句:The spill could wipe out the Gulf's turtlepopulation.

這次原油泄漏可能會(huì)使波斯灣的海龜滅絕。

3.refuse to 不肯;拒絕

例句:I refuse to act that way when my kids fight.

我的孩子們打起架來(lái)時(shí)，我不會(huì)那樣做。

4.along with 伴隨;與一起

例句:Tobacco is taxed in most countries,along with alcohol.

除酒以外, 煙草在多數(shù)國(guó)家都要征稅。