致共和党领导层的警告：如果你们真的认为民主党重新掌权会对我们的国家构成生存威胁，那么为什么还要把这次选举的关键议题拱手让给他们呢？诚然，仍有数百万美国人相信特朗普对经济有着深刻的理解，并且认为“美国的经济就应该以商业利益为优先”；但他们同时也明白，特朗普是一位生活在富裕与特权环境中的领导者。
Note to Republican leadership: If you truly deem the Democrats coming back into power in Congress and the White House as an existential threat to our nation, then why are you handing them the winning issue for this election cycle on a silver platter? To be sure, there are still millions of Americans who believe President Trump has an exceptional understanding of economics and that the “business of America is business.”That said, they also understand that Trump is a leader who was blessed to grow up in a bubble of wealth and privilege.
因此，对于美国工人阶级所面临的日常困境，无论特朗普多么表示同情，对他来说都只是理论上的概念而已。我们的第45任和第47任总统从未经历过数百万美国人每天醒来时所面临的那些令人绝望、令人精神崩溃的现实：没有足够的钱支付房租或房贷；面临被驱逐的威胁；不得不在取暖燃料和食物之间做出选择；没有钱为孩子购买所需的药品；因为没有钱加油而不得不步行去上班（尽管工资只有最低工资水平）；没有钱搬离犯罪高发的社区；没有钱修理牙齿；或者没有钱让孩子参加毕业舞会……我可以向你保证：作为一个在极度贫困中长大、童年时期还无家可归的人，数百万美国同胞每天都在面对这些现实问题。
As such, the day-to-day struggles of working-class Americans, no matter how much Trump may sympathize, are still only academic to him. Our 45th and 47th president has never experienced the hope-crushing and mentally debilitating realities millions of Americans face each waking morning. Realities such as: not having enough money to pay the rent or mortgage; the threat of eviction; being forced to choose between heating fuel or food; not having enough money to buy your child needed medicine; having to walk to your minimum wage job because you did not have enough money to buy gas for your car; not having the money to move from your crime-infested neighborhood; not having the money to fix your teeth; or not having the money so your child could attend the prom. I can assure you, as someone who grew up in abject poverty and was homeless as a child, millions of our fellow Americans are dealing with these issues every single day.
同样，我也想说：那些生活在富裕与特权环境中的人们，却对那些只能勉强维持生计的美国人说“忍耐一下”，理由只是为了阻止伊朗获得核武器，这实在令人愤怒。在过去几个月里，我与许多共和党人和特朗普的支持者交谈过，他们不断问道：“等等，我记得总统去年还说我们已经摧毁了伊朗的核能力啊！”
Just as I can assure you that having people in bubbles of wealth and privilege tell paycheck-to-paycheck working Americans to “suck it up” so we can prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon is infuriating. I have spoken with many Republicans and Trump supporters who have continually asked over the last few months: “Wait a minute, I thought the president said we obliterated Iran’s nuclear capability last year! So why am I now being forced to pay higher gas prices and tell my family we can no longer afford meat?”
“那么，为什么我现在不得不支付更高的汽油费用，还得告诉家人我们再也买不起肉了呢？”无论共和党领导层是否愿意承认，他们在与工人阶级以及那些被边缘化的美国人之间的关系上正面临越来越严重的信任危机。这些选民不仅认为共和党加剧了他们的经济困境，还要求他们停止抱怨，为国家的利益着想。但在投票站里，这样的策略显然行不通。
No matter if the Republican leadership wants to admit it or not, they have a growing perception problem with working-class and disenfranchised Americans. These voters not only believe the Republicans have greatly exacerbated their daily financial struggles but are simultaneously telling them to stop whining for the good of the nation. It’s not a winning strategy in the voting booth.
工人阶级并不需要那些享有特权的政客、评论家或学者的说教；他们需要的是一个真正的“代言人”——一个曾经亲身经历过他们的生活困境、后来通过自己的努力走上领导岗位的人，才能真正为他们发声、解决问题。对特朗普和共和党领导层来说，幸运的是：就在椭圆形办公室的隔壁，就有一位在“工人阶级问题”研究领域拥有博士学位的人——那就是副总统J.D.万斯。
Working-class Americans don’t need lectures from privileged politicians, pundits and academics. They need a champion, preferably one who lived in and escaped their world into a position of leadership, where they can actually do something about it. Fortunately for Trump and the Republican leadership, literally right down the hall from the Oval Office sits a man who has a veritable Ph.D. in “working class American.”That person is Vice President JD Vance.
在特朗普政府中，或许只有万斯的人生经历才能真正引起全国工人阶级的共鸣。正如他在畅销书《Hillbilly Elegy》中所描述的那样：万斯在锈带地区的一个离婚家庭中长大，母亲一直在与药物成瘾和酗酒问题作斗争；他曾在海军陆战队服役，并通过自己的努力完成了大学和法学院的学业。他在政坛中迅速崛起，从参议员一路晋升到白宫。
If there is one person in the Trump administration whose life story can deeply resonate with the working class of our nation, it is Vance’s. As he described in his best-selling novel “Hillbilly Elegy,” our vice president grew up a child of divorce in the Rust Belt, as his mother struggled against addiction and alcohol abuse. Vance served in the Marines and put himself through college and law school. He rose quickly in politics, from the Senate to the White House —a life story that speaks to virtually every demographic in one way or another.
这样的经历几乎能够触动所有美国人的心弦。在这个日益两极分化、彼此隔阂严重的社会中，许多人可能已经忘记了万斯的非凡经历。现在，或许是万斯向选民（以及共和党领导层）证明自己“与他们站在一起”的好时机了。几年前，我有幸为两位总统在白宫工作过。
In our increasingly polarized and siloed country, many Americans may have forgotten or never learned of Vance’s remarkable story. Now might be a good time for Vance to not only remind voters that he is "one of them," but the Republican leadership as well. Years ago, I had the honor to work in the White House for two presidents.
如果记忆无误，艾森豪威尔行政办公楼里有一间非常不错的礼堂，特朗普政府的特权领导层可以聚集在那里，让副总统给他们上一堂速成课，了解我国工人阶级每天面临的日益严酷的现实。万斯应该强调：别对工人阶级说教。别居高临下地跟他们说话。别指责他们或侮辱他们。相反，让我们倾听他们，共情他们，并设法帮助他们。如果共和党希望在11月3日不被不断壮大的“蓝色浪潮”淹没，还有任何希望的话，他们最好听听并学学。道格拉斯·麦金农曾任白宫和五角大楼官员。
If memory serves, there is a very nice auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building where the privileged leadership of the Trump administration can be gathered so the vice president can give them a crash course in the increasingly harsh realities faced by the working class of our nation on a daily basis. Let’s not lecture the working class, Vance should emphasize. Let’s not speak down to them. Let’s not blame them or insult them. Rather, let us listen to them, empathize with them and seek to help them. If the Republicans want to have any hope of not being drowned by a growing blue wave come Nov. 3, they would do tell to listen and learn. Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official.