得克萨斯州总检察长肯·帕克斯顿的共和党参议员竞选活动，在最新一批音频录音泄露之前就已经陷入困境，而这些录音显然让本已糟糕的局势更加恶化。
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Republican Senate campaign was struggling before the latest round of leaked audio recordings, but they have clearly made a bad situation worse.
第一例事件出现在一周前，《纽约时报》报道称，这位饱受丑闻困扰的候选人在一周前对一群保守派捐赠者和游说者发表了一些挑衅性言论。在提及其家乡州近期举行的党内中期选举大会时，帕克斯顿说：“说实话，那次大会之后，我们的支持率下降了。所有人的支持率都下降了。目前的情况，嗯，确实不太乐观。”第二例事件很快随之而来。根据《政治报》获得的一段音频录音，帕克斯顿还抱怨华盛顿的党内工作人员在管理他的竞选团队。
The first example emerged a week ago, when The New York Times reported that the scandal-plagued candidate made some provocative comments to a group of conservative donors and lobbyists a week earlier. Referring to his party’s recent midterm convention in his home state, Paxton said, “So to be honest with you, the numbers — when we did that convention — it dropped our numbers. Everybody’s numbers dropped. Right now, yeah, not good.”The second soon followed. According to an audio recording obtained by Politico Paxton also complained about party operatives from Washington running his campaign operation.
这位得州候选人在一场筹款活动上说：“我从未参加过一场让我感觉对竞选控制如此薄弱、甚至对哪些议题重要都毫无掌控的选举，因为所有东西都来自——你知道的——华盛顿特区。”他还补充道：“我无法控制宣传信息，也无法决定我们正在做什么。”这一系列录音中的第三段则显示，帕克斯顿在幕后为自己的选举困境寻找借口。
“I’ve never been in a race where I felt less control over the campaign and, like, what issues are going to matter because it’s all coming — you know — from D.C.,” the Texan said during a fundraising event. The candidate added, “I don’t control message or what we’re doing.”The third in the series featured Paxton making behind-the-scenes excuses for his electoral difficulties.
“这是战争的影响，是油价……柴油价格已经超过了每加仑6美元，”他说，“人们正感受到这种压力。……这绝对是我们最大的问题，我认为这也是我们的支持率难以提升的原因。”然而，前三个泄露的录音让帕克斯顿与党内共和党同僚产生分歧，而第四个泄露的录音则让他与选民站在了对立面。
“It’s the war, it’s gas prices … it’s over $6 a gallon for diesel,”he said“People are feeling that pinch. … That’s by far our biggest problem, and I think that’s why we’re having a hard time with numbers.”But while the first three leaks put Paxton at odds with his fellow Republicans, the fourth leak puts him at odds with voters.
《得克萨斯论坛报》报道称，当被问及如何减少联邦赤字时，帕克斯顿表示：“你必须对强制性支出进行一些合理的削减。否则根本无解。这就是现实。我们只能硬着头皮接受。”
The Texas Tribune reported In response to a question about reducing the federal deficit, Paxton said: “Making some reasonable cuts to mandatory spending — you’re gonna have to do it. Or there is no solution. That’s just the reality. We have to suck it up.
帕克斯顿补充道：“从共和党总统到民主党总统，我们一直在疯狂地花钱，但似乎没人关心。这将使我们破产，这只是时间问题。”为了让大家清楚，大多数联邦强制性支出都用于国家三大社会保险计划：社会保障、医疗补助和医疗援助。其余部分则用于其他优先事项，例如食品援助、失业保险和残疾福利。
Paxton added, “from Republican presidents to Democrats, we’ve been spending like crazy and no one seems to care. It’s gonna bankrupt us. It’s just a matter of time.”Just so we’re all clear, most mandatory federal spending goes to the nation’s three largest social insurance programs: Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The remainder goes to other priorities, such as food benefits, unemployment insurance and disability benefits.
距离选举日仅剩26天，得克萨斯州的选民现在得知，帕克斯顿打算削减这些计划——而这些削减措施他并未在竞选宣传中公开提及。而且，仿佛美国人在近期已经承受了足够的困难，他们还将不得不像这位得州共和党人所说的那样，“硬着头皮承受”。帕克斯顿后来向《得克萨斯论坛报》澄清称，如果当选，他将保护社会保障计划，但这反而引发了更多关于他计划对医疗补助和医疗援助等计划进行多大程度削减的疑问。
With 26 days remaining before Election Day, voters in Texas are now learning that Paxton intends to make cuts to these programs — cuts he has not talked about publicly as part of his campaign message. And, as if Americans haven’t already struggled enough of late, they’re going to have to, as the Texas Republican put it, “suck it up.”Paxton later clarified to The Texas Tribune that he would protect Social Security if elected, but that only raised additional questions about the scale of the cuts he has in mind to programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.
最近的民意调查显示，帕克斯顿在备受关注的这场竞选中落后于民主党州代表詹姆斯·塔拉里科。最新泄露的音频录音几乎肯定不会对他有所帮助。
Recent polling suggests Paxton is trailing Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in their closely watched race. The latest leaked audio recording almost certainly won’t help. The post Ken Paxton’s fourth leaked recording is likely to do even more damage than the first three MS NOW