共和党正在中期选举前的最后一周里，捍卫那些突然变得有竞争力的、历史上属于红色阵营的参议院席位，这是根据联邦备案文件和知情人士透露的情况。
Republicans are spending the final week ahead of the midterm elections defending historically red Senate seats that have suddenly become competitive, according to federal filings and sources familiar with the matter.
目前的重点显著集中在堪萨斯州、南卡罗来纳州、内布拉斯加州，甚至密西西比州的四场参议院竞选上，这些都是传统的红色席位，这对共和党保住参议院控制权的努力而言，是一个不祥的发展。
A significant focus is now on four Senate races in K ansas, South Carolina, Nebraska, and even Mississippi, all traditionally red seats, in what’s an ominous development for Republicans in their effort to at least keep control of the upper chamber.
特朗普的幕僚告诉《内部圈子》（Inner Loop），他们并不预期民主党会赢得那些参议院席位，他们主要指示共和党外部团体在那里投入资金，以帮助仅拥有微弱领先优势的现任议员提升声势。
Trump operatives tell Inner Loop that they do not expect Democrats to win those Senate seats and that they have mainly directed GOP outside groups to spend there to help boost incumbents that only have a narrow lead.
但这些幕僚也承认，他们不得不向那些州转移越来越多的资源——这些州是唐纳德·特朗普总统在2024年以两位数优势拿下的，也是共和党从未梦想过要花费数千万美元的地方。
But t he operatives also concede that they are having to divert an increasing amount of resources to those states—states that president Donald Trump carried by double digits in 2024 and where Republicans never dreamed of having to spend tens of millions of dollars.
根据《连线》（WIRED）对联邦备案文件的审查，在竞选倒数第二周，与共和党参议院领袖有关联的参议院领导力基金（Senate Leadership Fund）在这四个州总共花费了1400万美元。最大的一笔开支在堪萨斯州，SLF突然在那里投入了500多万美元。
In total, in the penultimate week of the campaign, the Senate Republican–aligned Senate Leadership Fund spent $14 million across those four states, according to a WIRED review of federal filings. The biggest spend has been in Kansas, where SLF has abruptly dumped more than $5 million.
特朗普幕僚称，自10月初以来，堪萨斯州一直是个主要棘手问题，当时共和党民调机构特拉法尔加集团（Trafalgar Group）发现，民主党候选人亚当·汉密尔顿（Adam Hamilton）领先现任共和党参议员罗杰·马歇尔（Roger Marshall）1个百分点。
Trump operatives say Kansas has been a major headache since the start of October, when Trafalgar Group , a GOP pollster, found Democratic candidate Adam Hamilton one point ahead of incumbent GOP senator Roger Marshall.
马歇尔是一名医生，在一连串负面报道曝光后，面临一场异常艰难的竞选：报道称他因患者未付账单而对患者采取法律行动，以及他在佛罗里达州花费了大量时间。消息人士称，一些政治操盘手还抱怨他没有认真对待这场竞选。
Marshall, a doctor, has had an unusually tough race following a slew of negative stories about how he pursued legal action against his patients with unpaid bills and how much time he spends in Florida. Some political operatives have also complained that he has not taken his race seriously, sources say.
但这种最后时刻的投入也出现在南卡罗来纳州等地，SLF 在那里又投入了约 500 万美元，帮助现任议员达琳·格雷厄姆。尽管获得了总统的背书，让她在初选中获胜，但她一直难以激发特朗普基本盘的热情。
But the last-minute spending is also coming in places like South Carolina, where SLF spent another roughly $5 million to help incumbent Darline Graham, who has struggled to galvanize Trump's base despite having the president’s endorsement that propelled her to victory in the primary.
SLF 还在内布拉斯加州投入了近 300 万美元，帮助在部分民调中落后的共和党现任参议员皮特·里基茨；在密西西比州，该基金向共和党现任参议员辛迪·海德-史密斯投入了略低于 100 万美元。
SLF also spent nearly $3 million in Nebraska to help Republican incumbent senator Pete Ricketts, who has been behind in some polls, and in Mississippi, the fund put just under $1 million toward Republican incumbent senator Cindy Hyde-Smith.
最后冲刺阶段凸显了共和党的棘手困境，他们不得不去堵补一个看似不断增加的脆弱环节。
The final sprint has highlighted the fraught predicament for Republicans, who are having to patch a seemingly ever-growing number of vulnerabilities.
特朗普的竞选行程也增加了几个出现预警信号的深红州，除了预期中的摇摆州造势站外。上周，特朗普去了堪萨斯州和南卡罗来纳州。本周，他去了密西西比州，并将再次前往堪萨斯州和南卡罗来纳州。
Trump's campaign schedule has also added several deep-red states that are flashing warning signs, in addition to the expected campaign stops in battleground states. Last week, Trump went to Kansas and South Carolina. This week, he has been in Mississippi and will return to Kansas and South Carolina, as well.
尽管如此，多名特朗普团队操盘手向《内部圈子》表示，他们因民主党候选人近期在几场关键参议院竞选中未能扩大领先优势而感到鼓舞——这一担忧已在一些参议院民主党领导层助手中浮现。
Still, several Trump operatives tell Inner Loop they have been encouraged by the fact that Democratic candidates lately have not expanded their leads in several key Senate races—a concern that has cropped up among some Senate Democratic leadership aides.
他们最担心的是密歇根州，这是共和党翻盘的最佳机会。民主党夺取参议院多数席位的最可行路径多经由该州，但民主党候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德在关键投票群体中面临持续存在的问题。
Chief among their concerns is Michigan, the best GOP pickup opportunity. Many of the most viable paths to Democrats taking the Senate majority pass through the state, but Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed has suffered lingering issues with key voting blocs.
一位民主党助手告诉《内部圈子》，黑人选民在 2008 年和 2012 年大批涌出投票，助奥巴马赢下该州，华盛顿的通行看法是，埃尔-赛义德将需要类似的支持才能守住这个蓝州席位。
Black voters turned out in droves to help Barack Obama carry the state in 2008 and 2012, and the conventional wisdom in Washington is that El-Sayed will need similar support in order to keep the seat blue, one of the Democratic aides tells Inner Loop.
但他们补充说，对埃尔-赛义德而言，麻烦在于密歇根州阿拉伯裔与黑人社区之间长达数十年的敌意，这一裂痕在初选期间进一步加剧——他的挑战者黑利·史蒂文斯的支持者投放了广告，片中巴拉克·奥巴马称赞她早年在金融危机期间的工作。
But the trouble for El-Sayed, they add, has been the decades-long animosity between Arab and Black communities in Michigan, a divide that was further strained during the primary when supporters of his challenger, Haley Stevens, ran ads featuring Barack Obama praising her earlier work during the financial crisis.
为了至少重建这一联盟的一部分，奥巴马上周末在底特律与埃尔-赛义德举行了联合集会，助手们希望这能说服一些选民。但操盘手们并不确定这是否足够。我们只能拭目以待事态如何发展。下周见，到时再聊！本文出自雨果·洛厄尔的《内幕圈》时事通讯。
In an effort to rebuild at least part of that coalition, Obama held a joint rally with El-Sayed in Detroit over the weekend, which aides are hoping could persuade some voters. Operatives aren’t sure if it’ll be enough. We will have to see how it pans out. See you next week, on the other side! This is an edition of Hugo Lowell’s Inner Loop newsletter.