国务卿马可·鲁比奥周二在今年最接近竞选活动的场合露面。即便如此，他也试图保持在“近海”位置，不直接卷入其中。
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday came as close to the campaign trail as he’s been all year. And even then, he tried to stay just offshore.
鲁比奥在得克萨斯州科珀斯克里斯蒂与唐纳德·特朗普总统同台，当时总统正在一艘装载委内瑞拉原油的油轮旁举行集会。此次访问有助于突显白宫引以为豪的一项成就——推翻委内瑞拉独裁者尼古拉斯·马杜罗并打开该国能源供应——且地点选在一个政治战场州。
Rubio appeared with President Donald Trump in Corpus Christi, Texas, as he rallied alongside an oil tanker carrying Venezuelan crude. The visit helped spotlight a proud White House accomplishment — toppling the Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and opening the country’s energy supply — in a political battleground state.
鲁比奥的出现属于意外，是在总统于集会上邀请他上台后发生的，这一性质很可能足以使这位国家最高外交官免受干预中期选举竞选的指控。这位佛罗里达州前参议员一直与党派政治保持谨慎距离，即使像司法部长托德·布兰奇这样的同事已打破行政部门官员不得参与竞选活动的长期惯例。
The unexpected nature of Rubio’s presence, after the president coaxed him up on stage during the rally, is likely enough to shield the nation’s top diplomat from allegations that he is interfering in the midterm campaign. The former Florida senator has kept a careful distance from partisan politics, even as colleagues like Attorney General Todd Blanche have defied longstanding norms against some administration officials engaging in electioneering.
“能为世界上最伟大的国家、为美国历史上最伟大的总统工作，是我的荣幸，”鲁比奥在台上简短致辞时说。“我们爱你们，得克萨斯州。”一位白宫官员表示，鲁比奥当时在后台，是总统把他叫上去的，他仅以国家安全顾问的身份出席，并非为中期选举助选。这位官员和本文引述的其他人一样，获准匿名透露行程细节。
“It's an honor to work for the greatest country in the world, for the greatest president in the history of the United States of America,” Rubio said in brief remarks from the stage. “We love you, Texas.”A White House official, who like others in this article was granted anonymity to share details of the trip, said that Rubio was backstage during the rally when the president brought him up and that he was only there in his capacity as national security adviser, not to stump ahead of the midterms.
虽然并不指望鲁比奥在活动上发言，但他一直延续了国务卿不参与竞选活动的传统；共和党人却一直在呼吁这位2028年潜在总统候选人出面助选，视他为党内在残酷的中期选举周期中最强有力的传声筒之一——此时共和党急需任何额外帮助。一位身处关键参议院竞选州的共和党官员在获准匿名的情况下透露私下对话称，他们曾请求鲁比奥出席最近的一次政治活动，但被告知鉴于他作为首席外交官的角色，国务卿不参加政治活动。
While Rubio, who was not expected to speak at the event, has maintained the tradition of secretaries of State not campaigning, Republicans have been clamoring for the potential 2028 presidential hopeful to do so, seeing him as one of the party’s strongest messengers in a bruising midterm cycle in which they have been desperate for any additional help. One GOP official in a state with a key Senate race, granted anonymity to share private conversations, said that they asked for Rubio to attend a recent political event but were told the secretary of State wasn't doing political events given his role as chief diplomatic officer.
“鲁比奥是特朗普最好的资产，他们知道在得克萨斯州赢得胜利是一场苦战，”曾为众议员埃莉斯·斯特凡尼克（共和党-纽约州）提供建议的共和党操盘手比尔·科尔特塞说。即使鲁比奥没有登台，“鲁比奥仅仅身在该州的消息就可能在共和党需要的地方提振其胜算。”此外，国务卿出席还有另一个充分理由：鲁比奥是政府委内瑞拉战略的核心设计师之一，在马杜罗下台后，一直是管理该国政治过渡和与美国经济安排的主导人物。
“Rubio is Trump’s best asset, and they know they are in a dog fight to win in Texas,” said Bill Cortese, a GOP operative who has advised Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.). Even if Rubio had not come up on stage, “news of Rubio simply being in the state could potentially boost the GOP’s chances in places that they need it.”Plus, the secretary of State had another good reason for being there: Rubio was one of the central architects of the administration’s Venezuela strategy and has been a leading figure in managing the country’s political transition and economic arrangements with the U.S. in the wake of Maduro’s ouster.
“这是他的胜利，他的交易，”一位特朗普政府官员补充道，指的是鲁比奥与委内瑞拉事务的关联。
“It’s his win and his deal,” a Trump administration official added about Rubio and the Venezuela link.
当被问及为何鲁比奥陪同特朗普前往得克萨斯州时，白宫引用了特朗普8月在Truth Social上的一条帖子，他在帖子中将与委内瑞拉达成的石油协议归功于鲁比奥和国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯的谈判。
Asked why Rubio accompanied Trump on the Texas trip, the White House referred to one of Trump’s Truth Social posts from August in which he credited Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for negotiating the oil deal with Venezuela.
一名国务院发言人提到鲁比奥作为国家安全顾问的角色，并表示他“需要与总统在各类问题上进行沟通。总统将四处奔波，因此同机飞行让他有机会就这些事项与总统交谈。”值得注意的是，国务卿上个月缺席了在达拉斯举行的共和党全国委员会中期大会，转而前往哥伦比亚进行外交访问。
A State Department spokesperson noted Rubio’s role as national security adviser and said that he “needs time with the president on all kinds of issues. The president will be on the go, so being on the plane with him gives him a chance to talk to him about these items.”The secretary of State notably skipped the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention in Dallas last month, opting instead to go on a diplomatic trip to Colombia.
“马可热爱竞选和政治，他极其在意确保众议院和参议院继续掌握在共和党手中，但我认为他也意识到，身为国务卿的一部分职责就是不从事公开的政治活动，”一位鲁比奥的亲信人士说道。
“Marco loves campaigns and politics and he cares desperately about making sure that the House and Senate remain in Republican hands, but I think he also realizes that part of being secretary of State is you don’t engage in overt political activity,” said a person close to Rubio.
在特朗普首个任期内，时任国务卿迈克·蓬佩奥打破惯例，多次公开露面，直接或间接地显露竞选色彩，其中包括在2020年共和党全国大会上发表讲话。
In Trump’s first term, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo broke with tradition and made a handful of public appearances that directly or indirectly appeared campaign related, including delivering remarks to the Republican National Convention in 2020.
从实际操作层面看，大多数国务卿因频繁出访海外，难以抽出时间参与竞选。但鲁比奥出访频率低于前任，部分原因在于他的国家安全顾问职务使他留守白宫。
On a practical level, most secretaries of State travel overseas so much that it’s hard to spare time for campaigns. But Rubio travels more infrequently than his predecessors, in part because of his national security adviser role, which keeps him at the White House.
即便作为国务卿，鲁比奥的角色也更为非传统，他将精力主要集中在拉丁美洲事务上，而总统的特使，包括史蒂夫·威特科夫和贾里德·库什纳，则负责处理旨在结束伊朗、乌克兰和加沙战争的谈判。
And Rubio also has a more nontraditional role even as secretary of State, focusing most of his energy on Latin America while the president’s special envoys, including Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, have handled negotiations to try to end the wars in Iran, Ukraine and Gaza.
然而，得克萨斯州之行——特朗普借此将其标志性的外交政策成果与降低物价的努力挂钩——让那些认为鲁比奥是该党在经济议题上最值得信赖的传播者、且数月来一直希望看到他下基层助选的共和党人松了一口气。
Yet the Texas visit — in which Trump sought to link one of his signature foreign policy accomplishments with efforts to reduce prices — came as a relief to the Republicans who believe Rubio is one of the party’s most trusted messengers on the economy and have for months wanted to see him on the trail.
《政客》民调结果显示，鲁比奥可以成为竞选活动中的有用代理人。在本月的三次民调中，共和党中期选举选民始终将鲁比奥列为第三受欢迎的助选人选，仅次于特朗普和副总统JD·万斯，领先于得克萨斯州参议员特德·克鲁兹、卫生部长小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪等人。
Results from The POLITICO Poll suggest Rubio can be a useful surrogate on the campaign trail. Across three polls this month, Republican midterm voters consistently selected Rubio as their third-highest choice to hit the campaign trail to help their party, behind Trump and Vice President JD Vance but ahead of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and others.
在特朗普2024年的选民联盟中，对鲁比奥助选的支持也相当稳定，认为这位国务卿助选将帮助共和党人的比例在MAGA基本盘（31%）与非MAGA特朗普选民（23%）之间仅相差8个百分点。与此同时，MAGA忠实支持者支持特朗普和万斯助选的可能性明显高于非MAGA特朗普选民。
Support for Rubio on the campaign trail is also fairly steady across Trump’s 2024 coalition, with only an 8-point gap between the MAGA base (31%) and non-MAGA Trump voters (23%) saying the secretary of State would help Republicans if he campaigned. Meanwhile, MAGA loyalists were significantly more likely than non-MAGA Trump voters to support Trump and Vance hitting the trail.
值得注意的是，鲁比奥引发的负面反弹也少于其他人物。民主党人普遍支持弹劾特朗普、万斯、肯尼迪等人。但支持弹劾鲁比奥的比例低于其他人物，从而推动整体民意反对弹劾。
Notably, Rubio also generates less negative backlash than other figures. Democrats widely support the impeachment of Trump, Vance, Kennedy and others. But support for impeaching Rubio is lower than the other figures, pushing overall public opinion against impeachment.
“在这个艰难的环境中，马尔科·鲁比奥是共和党人最有价值的资产。他不仅获得MAGA基本盘的广泛支持，还吸引中间派选民，显然也吸引关键的西班牙裔选民。他们想办法让他发挥作用是合情合理的，”前佛罗里达州众议员卡洛斯·柯贝洛说。
“Marco Rubio is Republicans’ most valuable asset in this difficult environment. While he has broad support from the MAGA base, he also appeals to centrist voters and obviously to critical Hispanic voters. It makes sense that they would find a way to activate him,” said former Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo.