经济学人225:科罗拉多州参议院竞选

 　　The race for the Senate: Colorado

　　科罗拉多州参议院竞选
　　High, tolerant and Republican?
　　高容忍的共和党人？
　　In a state that smiles on pot and same-sex marriage, Democrats 2 are in trouble
　　在包容大麻和同性婚姻的科罗拉多州，民主党身陷囹圄
　　RECREATIONAL pot is legal in Colorado. So, from this week, is gay marriage. So you might think liberals would find it easy to win elections here. Yet Barack Obama is so unpopular in Colorado that when Mark Udall, a Democratic senator fighting for re-election, skipped one of his own fundraisers at the last minute, everyone assumed it was because Mr Obama was to headline it.
　　在科罗拉多州消遣娱乐的大麻符合法律。从这周开始，同性恋婚姻也将成为合法婚姻关系。于是人们很容易联想到在该州自由主义者赢得竞选就显得轻而易举。但是由于奥巴马在科罗拉多非常不受人们的待见，努力准备再选的民主党议员马克·尤德尔在最后一刻直接跳过他的资金筹集人。人们都猜测这是因为奥巴马将突出宣传此次竞选。
　　This is quite a turnaround. Like several Democrats in swing states, Mr Udall was first elected to the Senate on Mr Obama's coat-tails in 2008. Now, like practically every vulnerable Democrat 1, he is trying to distance himself from the president—something footage of the two men hugging might have made trickier 3.
　　这是一个相当大的转变。正如在摇摆不定的州的其他民主党人一样，2008年尤德尔仰仗奥巴马首次进入参议院。现在，几乎像每一个易受影响的民主党人一样，他正尝试尽力疏远总统，然而几张两人相拥的连续镜头恐怕让他的尝试变得更为棘手。
　　科罗拉多州参议院竞选.jpg
　　The Republican Senate candidate in Colorado, a young, charismatic congressman 4 with a Mona Lisa smile called Cory Gardner, calls Mr Udall a rubber stamp for Mr Obama. Mr Udall calls Mr Gardner “extreme” (and indeed, in 2012 he was named as one of the most conservative members of the House of Representatives). But Mr Gardner has run a strong campaign in a state that has moved leftward in recent years, as more young people and Latinos have moved in. With less than a month to go, the race is a dead heat. If it flips 5, so, probably, will the Senate.
　　科罗拉多州共和党参议院候选人是一位年轻具超凡魅力的国会议员，名叫克里·加德纳，脸上挂着蒙娜丽莎般的微笑，称尤德尔毫无主见，简直是奥巴马的应声虫。而尤德尔则认为加德纳极端（确实，2012年他被认为是众议员最保守的议员之一）。近年来由于更多的年轻人和拉丁裔移民的加入，科罗拉多州在政治上趋左，加德纳在此开展了强势的竞选活动。距竞选不足一月，双方难分胜负。如果此次竞选结果很快出来，那么议会的结果也出来了。
　　The Rocky Mountain State wasn't always swing territory. Before Mr Obama, no Democratic presidential candidate except Bill Clinton had carried it since 1964. But in recent years a Democratic state legislature has pushed through a series of liberal bills, for example to enforce background checks for gun-owners and allow in-state college tuition for illegal immigrants. Progressives in college towns such as Boulder 6 applaud, but conservatives in other parts of Colorado are fed up.
　　科罗拉多州（又称为落基山州）过去在竞选中不总是摇摆不定的。1964年以来，在奥巴马之前，除了克林顿总统，没有民主党的总统候选人占优势。但是最近几年，民主党州立法机关推行了一系列的自由法案，例如开展枪支拥有者的背景调查和准许非法移民享受公立大学学费待遇。在像博尔德（科罗拉多中北部城市）这样的大学城中的进步人士为此叫好，但是在科罗拉多州其他地区的保守人士却对此厌倦不烦。
　　“There's no big issue in this race,” says Floyd Ciruli, an independent pollster. “It's become entirely 7 about accusing people of being extremists or puppets of Obama.” Mr Udall has tried to rally female voters by accusing Mr Gardner of being a footsoldier in the so-called Republican “war on women”. About half of Mr Udall's TV spots have focused on abortion 8 and contraception. A voice-over in one said Mr Gardner had sponsored a bill to “make abortion a felony, including in cases of rape 9 and incest” and had “championed an eight-year crusade to outlaw 10 birth control”.
　　一位名叫Floyd Ciruli的独立民意检测专家称“这场选举没什么利害关系，而完全是一场指着人们或是极端主义者或是奥巴马总统的玩偶”。尤德尔通过指责加德纳在所谓的共和党对妇女的战争中充当一个毫无力量的步兵，试图团结女选民。尤德尔的竞选电视广告中约有一半聚焦堕胎和避孕。其中一则画外音指出加德纳发起一项立法，治涉及强奸与乱伦在内的堕胎重罪，此外支持一项历时八年的改革运动——宣布计划生育不合法。
　　The ad was referring to Mr Gardner's support for a so-called “personhood” ballot 11 measure, which would have endowed fetuses 12 with the same rights as people from the moment of conception. No state has ever passed such a measure—Colorado rejected it by 71% to 29%. And were such a law to pass, it would quickly be struck down by the courts. But critics say that, if “personhood” became law, it might make contraceptives such as intra-uterine devices illegal, because they could prevent the implantation of a fertilised egg.
　　该广告直指加德纳支持所谓的人格投票法案，这一法案赋予胎儿自怀孕那一刻起就有同等的选举权。目前没有任何一州通过这样的法案——科罗拉多州以71%反对29%支持的结果驳回该法案。倘若该法案通过生效，也将会很快被法庭驳回。但是批评者认为倘若“人格”成为法律，将会导致像子宫内避孕器（避孕环）这样的避孕方法不合法,因为将阻碍受精卵的植入。
　　Inconstant Gardner
　　变化无常的加德纳
　　In March Mr Gardner announced he had changed his mind; he said he hadn't realised the “personhood” measure would restrict access to contraception, telling the Denver Post: “I don't get everything right the first time.” Mr Gardner then announced in June that he favoured allowing birth-control pills to be sold without a prescription 13. Republicans in several states have aired the same proposal. They say it would make it easier for women to obtain contraception, and would lower the overall cost, since it would not involve a trip to a doctor. Democrats retort that since many insurance policies do not cover over-the-counter drugs, the cost borne by the women themselves would rise.
　　三月，加德纳宣布改变主意，他声称自己过去没有意识到“人格”法案会限制避孕，他在丹佛邮报上刊言“我不可能每尝试一件事就事事成功”。六月他又说道他支持在没有处方的情况下购买避孕丸。诸多州府的共和党人公开宣传支持此举。他们声称这样将极大地方便妇女避孕。由于这省去看医生的步骤，将会降低总成本。民主党人反驳称，由于许多保险政策不覆盖未经处方购买的药物，妇女自身承担的成本将会上涨。
　　Mr Gardner's political jujitsu seems to have made an impression on voters. He scares moderate voters far less than Ken 14 Buck 15, the Republican Senate candidate in 2010, who called homosexuality “a choice” and asked voters to back him because he didn't wear “high heels”. Some voters, moreover, think Mr Udall focuses too single-mindedly on reproductive rights, and have cruelly dubbed 16 him “Mark Uterus”.
　　加德纳的政治太极似乎在选民心中留下了印象。比起温和派的选民，加德纳更担心2010年的共和党参议员候选人肯·巴克，因为这人认为同性恋是一种个人选择，并请求选民支持他因为他平易近人不摆臭架子。此外，有些选民认为尤德尔太过注重生育权，近乎固执，于是不近人情地称他“子宫标记者”。
　　Critics say Mr Udall's negative campaign reflects his lack of accomplishments 17. He comes from an old political family: his father ran for president in 1976, and his cousin is a US senator from New Mexico. But “the problem is that Udall just hasn't done a whole lot,” says Mr Ciruli, the pollster. This is not fair. He is the best golfer in Congress. He is also a reliable eco-warrior, voted against the Patriot 18 Act because of his belief in privacy and battled with the NSA over its spying on Americans. On the campaign trail he stresses his love of civil liberties and independence from Mr Obama.
　　批评者称尤德尔的负面竞选活动反映了他缺乏风度。他生于一个有着古老政治传统的家庭：他的父亲于1976年参与总统竞选，他的表亲是新墨西哥州的参议员。民意调查人Ciruli称“问题在于尤德尔并没有什么成就”。这话实则有失公允。尤德尔是国会议员中高尔夫打得最好的，同时他也是一个值得信赖的环境斗士。他反对爱国者法案的通过，因为他认为个人隐私不可侵犯，并且对美国国家安全局监视美国民众一事进行抗争。在其政治游说过程中，他反复强调公民自由和独立于奥巴马总统，少受其影响。
　　Mr Udall is not the only Democrat in Colorado who is struggling to stay in office. Governor John Hickenlooper finds himself in an equally tight race against Bob Beauprez, a former dairy farmer and congressman. In recent years Mr Hickenlooper, a former mayor of Denver, has struggled with a lefty legislature, working behind the scenes to temper some measures, but failing to veto much. He has alienated 19 his base, who see him as too moderate, and upset moderates, who see him as too liberal, says Eric Sondermann, a political analyst 20. “There is a cumulative 21 sense in Colorado that the Democrats pushed their agenda too far in the legislature. Now they are paying the price.”
　　尤德尔不是科罗拉多州唯一努力争取在任的民主党竞选人。州长约翰·希肯卢珀发现他自己页面临强劲的对手伯博·柏雷普，一个国会议员，曾经是畜牧工人。近年来，作为丹佛前任州长，希肯卢珀与左派人士控制的立法机构抗争，他一直在幕后调和软化一些法案，但是却没能阻止多少。政治分析家艾瑞克·桑德曼称他已经脱离了其群众基础，因为人们认为他过于温和，太过悲观，太过自由。“科罗拉多州出现了一种累计的现象，民主党人在立法方面走得太远，超出其议程。现在他们要付出代价。”