班戈尔，缅因州 — — 缅因州参议院选举的辩论马拉松已经结束，但仍有一个未解之谜：唐纳德·特朗普总统在11月将会有多大的影响力？这个问题一直是民主党人特罗伊·杰克逊和资深共和党参议员苏珊·柯林斯之间冲突的焦点，他们在过去两周内进行了四场辩论，包括周四由缅因公共广播、波特兰先驱报和缅因新闻中心共同主办的决赛。
BANGOR, Maine — The marathon of debates in the Maine Senate race has ended, but there is still one unanswered question: Just how large will President Donald Trump loom in November? That question was at the center of the clashes between Democrat Troy Jackson and longtime GOP Sen. Susan Collins as they faced off in four debates over the last two weeks, including a finale on Thursday hosted by MainePublic, the Portland Press Herald and NewsCenter Maine.
杰克逊正在赌选民对特朗普的看法将主导他们对这场参议院选举的看法，而特朗普从未赢得过缅因州，这场选举可能决定明年哪个党将控制参议院。他在全部四场辩论中反复将柯林斯与特朗普联系起来。与此同时，柯林斯则试图吸引那些希望参议员愿意与本党决裂的缅因州选民。“我反对自己党派的次数比议院两侧任何其他参议员都多，”柯林斯在决赛期间说道。
Jackson is betting voters’ views of Trump, who has never won Maine, will dominate their views of this Senate race, which could determine which party controls the chamber next year. He repeatedly tied Collins to Trump throughout all four debates. Collins, meanwhile, tried to appeal Mainers who want a senator willing to break with his or her party. “I voted against my own party more often than any other senator on either side of the aisle,” Collins said during the final debate.
“这是特罗伊永远说不出的话。无论发生什么，他都将是民主党立场的自动票。我们失去了许多中间派，而我再次参选的原因之一是我们需要那些愿意跨党派合作的人。”“现实是，当唐纳德·特朗普需要她时，苏珊·柯林斯百分之百的时间都会在那里，”杰克逊反驳道。“这种情况一再发生。”特朗普的政策与所有四场辩论中涉及的主要议题交织在一起，包括高昂的成本、伊朗战争、移民执法以及与加拿大的持续贸易战——加拿大与缅因州接壤。
“That is not something that Troy could ever say. He’s going to be an automatic vote for the Democratic position, no matter what. We have lost a lot of the centrists, and one reason I’m running again is we need people who will work across party lines.”“The reality is that 100% of the time, when Donald Trump needs her, Susan Collins is going to be there,” Jackson countered. “That has happened time and time again.”Trump’s policies were intertwined with the major topics in covered in all four debates, including high costs, the war in Iran, immigration enforcement, and an ongoing trade war with Canada, which shares a border with Maine.
周四，柯林斯还被追问她对一些特朗普内阁官员的支持，包括卫生与公众服务部长罗伯特·F·肯尼迪 Jr.。她说她不后悔投票确认他，同时指出她不同意肯尼迪对疫苗的怀疑态度。柯林斯表示，肯尼迪帮助释放了更多资金，用于一个旨在帮助低收入缅因州民众在油价飙升时购买取暖油的项目。
On Thursday, Collins was also pressed on her support for some Trump Cabinet officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. She said she did not regret voting to confirm him, while noting that she disagrees with Kennedy’s vaccine skepticism. Collins said Kennedy has helped release more funds from a program to help low-income Mainers purchase heating oil amid soaring prices.
与此同时，杰克逊表示，他将投票支持对肯尼迪的弹劾指控定罪。“但那不是我的重点，”杰克逊迅速补充道。“我的重点是提供医疗保健、处方药、托儿服务，以及缅因州人目前比以往任何时候都更需要的东西，还有退出伊朗战争，以便我们能够稳定物价。”在四场密集的辩论之后，气氛紧张。这场辩论是首次面对现场观众举行，大约有200名缅因州民众聚集在赫森大学的一座剧院内。
Jackson, meanwhile, said he would vote to convict Kennedy on impeachment charges. “But that’s not my focus,” Jackson quickly added. “My focus is delivering healthcare, prescription drugs, child care, the things that Mainers need right now more than ever, and getting out of the Iran war so we can stabilize prices.”Tensions were high after four debates in rapid succession. This one was the first in front of a live audience, with roughly 200 Mainers gathered in a theater at Husson University.
辩论开始约20分钟后，一名年轻男子站起来，就数据中心问题大声表达担忧，并称他为未来感到恐惧。“30年是为了什么？”这名抗议者在被护送出剧院时大喊，指的是柯林斯在参议院的任期。柯林斯声称这名抗议者是杰克逊的支持者，而杰克逊被听到评论道：“哦，闭嘴，我根本不认识那个孩子。”尽管抗议者质疑她在参议院的数十年任期，柯林斯一直认为，她的资历使她成为缅因州的有效倡导者。
Around 20 minutes into the debate, a young man stood and shouted about his concerns about data centers, exclaiming that he was scared for the future. “30 years for what?” the protester shouted as he was escorted out of the theater, referring to Collins’ time in the Senate. Collins claimed the protester was a Jackson supporter, and Jackson could be heard remarking, “Oh shut up, I don’t even know that kid.”While the protester questioned her decades in the Senate, Collins has argued that her seniority makes her an effective advocate for Maine.
她经常吹嘘自己担任强大的拨款委员会主席的角色，并称自己帮助带回了大量联邦资金，用于资助该州的项目。柯林斯强调，她在一些关键问题上与特朗普持不同立场，并指出她在2025年投票反对特朗普那项全面的“宏大、优美”的减税和支出法案，尽管她确实投票允许该法案在议院进行表决。“尽管如此，我还是投了反对票，尽管这是总统的首要立法优先事项。我在伊朗战争问题上也九次投票反对总统，”柯林斯说。
She often touts her role as chairwoman of the powerful Appropriations Committee, arguing she has helped bring home huge sums of federal money to fund projects in the state. Collins stressed that she has broken with Trump on some key issues, noting she voted against Trump’s sweeping, “big, beautiful” tax and spending law in 2025, though she did vote to allow the measure to proceed on the floor. “I nevertheless voted against the bill, even though it was the president’s top legislative priority. I’ve also voted nine times against the president on the Iran war,” Collins said.
杰克逊认为，柯林斯本可以做得更多来反对这项军事行动。当被问及他将在哪些问题上与本党持不同立场时，杰克逊指出，他承诺不接受企业政治行动委员会的捐款。“我认为民主党与企业政治行动委员会的关系仍然过于密切，”杰克逊说。“我不接受企业政治行动委员会的捐款。我不接受企业资金。
Jackson has argued that Collins could have done more to oppose the military action. Asked where he would break with his own party, Jackson pointed to his pledge not to accept donations from corporate PACs. “I think the Democrats are still too close to that,” Jackson said. “I don’t accept corporate PACs. I don’t accept corporate money. This is a campaign about fighting for everyday working class people, and that’s one thing that I’ve been consistent on.”
这是一场为普通工人阶级发声的竞选活动，这也是我一直坚持的核心立场。柯林斯试图反驳这一观点，她向杰克逊提出了一个问题，询问他与民主党参议院竞选委员会合作发布的广告情况——该委员会确实接受了企业政治行动委员会（PAC）的资助。杰克逊回应称，他并不赞成这些广告的发布；虽然他承认自己得到了一些亿万富翁的支持，但他表示自己的竞选资金主要来自小额捐赠者。
Collins tried to undermine that argument, using her one question to Jackson to ask him about ads run in coordination with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which does accept corporate PAC money. Jackson countered that he does not approve those ads. While he acknowledged he has had some support from billionaires, he said that his campaign is powered by small-dollar donors.
根据周四公布的筹款报告，杰克逊在7月至9月期间筹集了超过2000万美元的资金，这一数字几乎是柯林斯在同一时期所筹集的520万美元的四倍。杰克逊曾担任州参议院主席，并从事过伐木工作；他随后质问柯林斯，质疑她是否认为他在参议院中无法发挥有效作用：“我拥有为工人阶级发声的经验，他们理应得到一位尊重他们的参议员。你看不起的，只是我一个人，还是整个工人阶级呢？”杰克逊问道。
Jackson raised more than $20 million from July through September, according to a fundraising report filed Thursday. That is nearly four times more than Collins’ $5.2 million haul over the same time period. Jackson, a former state Senate president and logger, then pressed Collins over her claims that he could not be effective in the Senate. “I have the experience fighting for working-class people and they deserve a senator that respects them. Is it just me that you look down on, or is it working-class people over all?”Jackson asked.
柯林斯反驳道：“特洛伊，我并没有看不起你或任何人。我在卡里布（Caribou）长大，我的第一份工作就是挖土豆；实际上，我从10岁起就开始工作了。我一直支持所有的社会保障项目。”柯林斯在参议院的工作经验是她支持者希望她连任第六届议员的重要原因。杰克逊的支持者玛丽·安·林奇（Mary Ann Lynch）评价他说：“他在政府运作方面的知识确实不够扎实。”
“Troy, I do not look down on you or on anyone. I grew up in Caribou. My first job was picking potatoes,” Collins countered, saying she has “literally” worked since she was 10 years old. “I have supported all the social safety net programs,” Collins later added. Collins’ experience in the Senate is a major reason why her supporters are backing her for a sixth term. “He is just not strong on the mechanics of government,” Collins supporter Mary Ann Lynch said of Jackson.
尽管林奇是一名终身民主党人，但她却支持这位共和党参议员；她在周三的电话采访中表示，辩论活动并没有改变她的看法。“仅仅通过观看辩论，我很难相信如果我们让特洛伊·杰克逊进入华盛顿，他真的能够成为领导者。”71岁的林奇曾是开普伊丽莎白镇（Cape Elizabeth Town）的议员。
Lynch is a lifelong Democrat but is backing the Republican senator. And she said during a phone interview on Wednesday that the debates had not changed her mind. “Just watching the debates, it’s hard for me to say that if we sent Troy Jackson to Washington, he would ever be able to cut a path of leadership,” said Lynch, 71, a former member of the Cape Elizabeth Town Council.
但杰克逊将柯林斯与特朗普挂钩的努力确实引起了像丹·特伦布尔这样的倾向支持他的选民的共鸣。特伦布尔是彭布斯科特县委员，他在周四晚上进入班戈剧院时表示，他“相当坚定”地决定支持杰克逊。当被问及为何他不确定是否会支持杰克逊时，这位61岁的民主党人说：“苏珊·柯林斯为缅因州做了很多事情。”但他认为，如果她继续留在参议院，仍会让总统在美国参议院占多数，而这一点在这届总统任期内令人非常担忧。
But Jackson’s push to tie Collins to Trump does resonate with voters leaning towards supporting him, like Dan Tremble. A Penobscot County commissioner, Tremble said he was “pretty solid” in his decision to support Jackson as he entered the theater in Bangor on Thursday night. “Susan Collins has done a lot for the state of Maine,” said the 61-year-old Democrat, when asked why he wasn’t certain he’d support Jackson. “But I think having her in the Senate, I think, would still leave a majority for the president in the United States Senate, and that’s very worrisome with this president.”
他问道：“他说，‘像我一样投票，就好像我在选票上一样。’”特伦布尔补充道，指的是特朗普。“我会的。”
“He says, ‘Vote like I’m on the ballot,’” Tremble added, referring to Trump. “I will.”