这就像在看一部科幻游戏，玩家们在470个不同的赛场上竞争。这基本上就是疯狂城镇的定义。没有人类能够在不把AI直接注入手臂的情况下追踪如此多的比赛，所以我们从一场比赛跳到另一场，伴随着嗡嗡声和铃声，就像弹球机一样。
It’s like watching some sci-fi game with players competing on 470 different fields. Which is your basic definition of crazytown. No human being, without mainlining AI into his or her arm, could possibly track so many contests, so we bounce from one race to the next, with buzzers and bells, like a pinball machine.
看！查理·库克正在将18场众议院竞赛转向民主党有利的方向！这已经结束了！蓝色浪潮正在变得更强。给这个塞上塞子，它已经完成了！
Look! Charlie Cook is moving 18 House races in the Democrats’ favor! This is o-vah! The blue wave is getting stronger. Put a cork in this one, it’s done!
但等等。共和党拥有巨额资金优势。大额民主党捐款人，不管出于什么原因，都坐着他们的支票簿。他们没有意识到赌注吗？他们是不是都被私人岛屿上的阳光晃花了眼？
But wait a minute. The Republicans have a huge cash advantage. Big-time Democratic donors, for whatever reason, are sitting on their checkbooks. Don’t they realize the stakes? Are they all blinded by the sun on their private islands?
即使是在共和党内部私下里，似乎也存在共识，认为民主党将夺取众议院。唯一的问题是优势有多大。
There seems to be a consensus, even privately among Republicans, that the Dems will take the House. The only question is the margin.
因此，我们都在冲浪般地穿越参议院竞赛，即使我们对情况的了解不过是早上在Politico、《纽约时报》或《华尔街日报》上读到的那些。
So we all wind-surf across the Senate race, even if we know little more than what we read that morning in Politico, or the New York Times or Wall Street Journal.
共和党刚刚又向得克萨斯州共和党人肯·帕克斯顿拨款3000万美元，这个人背上的包袱比747飞机还多。（被自己的党弹劾也没有帮助。）他在音频中被捕获说，在特朗普总统的中期党代会之后，“大家的数字都下降了”。甚至特朗普也称他有时是“屁股上的疼痛”。而这就是他们想让获胜的人？
The GOP just sent another $30 million to Ken Paxton, the Texas Republican who has more baggage than a 747. (Being impeached by your own party doesn’t help.) He was caught on audio saying "everybody’s numbers dropped" after President Trump’s midterm convention. Even Trump calls him "a pain in the *ss sometimes." And this is the guy they want to win?
民主党人认为蓝色浪潮正在形成。以下是可能阻止它的三股力量。他的民主党对手詹姆斯·塔拉里科躲藏起来了——发生了什么？结果是他得了严重的流感。不过，这是得克萨斯州，孤星州，民主党人的梦想在这里破灭。
DEMOCRATS THINK A BLUE WAVE IS BUILDING. HERE ARE 3 FORCES THAT COULD STOP IT His Democratic opponent, James Talarico, went into hiding–what’s up with that? Turns out he had a nasty case of the flu. Still, it’s Texas, the Lone Star State, where Democratic dreams go to die.
好的，我们开始感到头晕目眩了。在缅因州，今年是不是苏珊·柯林斯将被击败？一项民调显示她落后于民主党特罗伊·杰克逊四分，后者取代了古怪候选人和佩戴纳粹纹身的格雷厄姆·普拉特纳，后者因性侵指控而退出。这真是件美妙的事。
Okay, we’re starting to get vertigo. In Maine, is this the year Susan Collins gets knocked off? One poll has her trailing by four points against Democrat Troy Jackson, who replaced weirdo candidate and Nazi tattoo-wearing Graham Platner, who quit after a sexual assault allegation. What a lovely business.
共和党人有一位支持率仅在30%左右的总统，这或许可以解释为什么他在其他日子里在锡拉丘兹进行竞选活动，而纽约是蓝色州中最蓝的州之一。
Republicans have a president who’s polling in the low 30s, which perhaps explains why he was campaigning the other day in Syracuse, when New York is among the bluest of blue states.
民主党需要净增四个席位才能控制参议院，虽然有些人已经过早地开始庆祝，但没人真正知道他们能否实现这样的目标。如果他们说他们能做到，那就是在撒谎。
The Democrats need a net gain of four seats to control the Senate, and while some are prematurely sipping Champagne, nobody really knows if they can draw that kind of inside straight. If they tell you they do, they’re lying.
密歇根州参议院竞争正处于严格的聚光灯下，这场竞争由民主党社会主义者阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛德与前众议员迈克·罗杰斯展开。我热切地观看了他们那天晚间的高分贝辩论——好吧，我是被指派去观看的——以下是我的感想。
There’s a harsh spotlight on the Michigan Senate race, featuring Democratic socialist Abdul el-Sayed vs. former congressman Mike Rogers. I eagerly watched their high-decibel debate the other night–okay, I was assigned to it--and here’s my takeaway.
埃尔-赛德在辩论中占了上风——他比罗杰斯更流畅、更具攻击性，而罗杰斯看起来像是一个典型的政客；而且他每第三句话都是在攻击特朗普或战争。这让罗杰斯处于不利地位，因为他曾支持伊朗战争，但现在又说应该结束战争。
El-Sayed won on points–he’s just a smoother and more aggressive debater than Rogers, who looks like a classic pol–and every third sentence was an attack on Trump or the war. This put Rogers at a disadvantage, because he supported the Iran war but now says it should end.
埃尔-赛德还一直在指责罗杰斯拥有两艘游艇，这其实与议题无关。
And El-Sayed kept whacking Rogers for owning two yachts, which is sort of irrelevant.
罗杰斯称他的对手是“骗子”，并不断试图将他与穆斯林兄弟会联系起来。这对埃尔-赛德来说是一个弱点，因为他被问到如果以色列遭到袭击，他是否会提供援助，而他坚持认为应该把钱花在国内。
Rogers called his opponent a "con man" and kept trying to tie him to the Muslim Brotherhood. This was a weakness for el-Sayed, who was asked whether he’d send aid if Israel was attacked, and insisted that he’d rather spend the money here at home.
埃尔-赛德在为“全民医保”及其不会导致私人保险消失这一观点的辩护上也做得很差。由于密歇根州靠近边境，两人都反对加拿大的关税——这对罗杰斯来说是一个转变——在一个噪音很大、普通人根本听不清的环节中进行了讨论。整场辩论变成了一个不断打断的马拉松，主持人不断责备辩论者。
El-Sayed also did a lousy job of defending Medicare for All and why it wouldn’t bring the end of private insurance. Since Michigan is near the border, both men came out against Canadian tariffs–a flip for Rogers–in a noisy segment that was utterly indecipherable to mere mortals. The whole thing turned into an interrup-ta-thon, with the moderator constantly scolding the contenders.
你不是很庆幸自己错过了吗？现在，多亏了我，你可以假装你看到了这场辩论。
Aren’t you glad you missed it? Now, thanks to yours truly, you can pretend you saw the debate.
但够了，不谈中期选举了。是时候加入评论界的行列，猜测2028年的形势了。
But enough about the midterms. Time to join the punditocracy and speculate about 2028.
卡马拉·哈里斯在荒谬地提前进行的民意调查中领先，获得了四分之一的民主党选民支持。
Kamala Harris is leading the ridiculously early polls, with a quarter of the Democratic vote.
只有一个问题。据《华尔街日报》报道，她的丈夫私下告诉人们，他不希望她参选。这算什么投票信心？
There’s just one problem. Her husband, the Wall Street Journal reports, has privately told people he doesn’t want her to run. How’s that for a vote of confidence?
所以大家都咬指甲吧。双方都在警告，自由世界的命运，悬而未决。
So bite your nails, everyone. The fate of the free world, both sides are warning, hangs in the balance.