华盛顿——近九成美国人认为政府腐败普遍存在——民主党希望利用这一共识，在选民决定是否让亿万富翁唐纳德·特朗普的共和党继续掌权之际占据优势。
WASHINGTON – Nearly nine in 10 Americans believe government corruption is widespread – a consensus Democrats hope to capitalise on as voters make up their minds on whether to keep billionaire Donald Trump’s Republicans in power.
前总统巴拉克·奥巴马近日在为民主党候选人助选、奔赴必须赢下的州时，反复强调这一信息，希望夺回国会控制权。
Former president Barack Obama has hammered the message home in recent days as he stumps for Democratic candidates in must-win states, hoping to flip control of Congress.
奥巴马10月28日在佐治亚州的一次集会上表示，特朗普“非常专注于让自己、家人和亲信发财”。
Trump “is very much focused on enriching himself and his family and his cronies”, Obama told a rally on Oct 28 in Georgia.
“他在任期间赚了数十亿美元。”“我们从未见过一位总统如此热衷于出售恩惠，”奥巴马补充道，呼应了他在另一个摇摆州密歇根州几天前发表的讲话。
“The guy has made billions of dollars while in office.”“We have never seen a president so intent on selling favours like this,” Obama added, echoing a speech he made days earlier in Michigan, another swing state.
马萨诸塞大学阿默斯特分校政治学教授雷·拉拉哈表示，民主党使用这种反腐败言辞，部分目的是“激发基本盘”，确保铁杆民主党人出来投票。
Ray La Raja, a political science professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said Democrats’ goal with such anti-corruption rhetoric is partly about “energising the base” of steadfast Democrats to make sure they vote.
但这也旨在构建一种“叙事”，吸引那些普遍对经济感到不满的“摇摆选民、可说服的独立选民”在11月3日出来投票。
But it also aims to create a “narrative to get those swing voters, those persuadable independents” who are generally upset about the economy, to “come out” on Nov 3.
拉拉哈补充说，一些共和党选民“可能会非常沮丧，以至于不去投票”。谁该负责？
Some Republican voters also “might be so demoralised, they won’t show up”, La Raja added. Who’s to blame?
民主党怀着高期待进入中期选举，因为执政党在历史上通常会失去席位——特朗普的支持率处于历史低位——且民众对高物价普遍不满。
Democrats head into the midterm elections with high expectations, as the party of a sitting president historically loses seats – Trump’s approval ratings are at record lows – and there is broad discontent over high prices.
与此同时，盖洛普9月发布的一项民调显示，89%的美国人认为美国政府腐败普遍存在——比2025年高出10个百分点，为20年来最高水平。根据该民调，对腐败看法上升最明显的是民主党人。
Meanwhile, a Gallup poll released in September showed 89% of Americans believe there is widespread government corruption in the United States – 10 percentage points higher than in 2025 and the highest level in 20 years. The spikes in perceptions of corruption were most elevated among Democrats, according to the poll.
拉拉哈表示，对选民而言，最重要的问题永远是经济，而现在大多数人认为经济状况不佳。
La Raja said that the most important issue for voters, always, is economics, and most people now believe those conditions are not good.
“他们在寻找原因。谁该为此负责？而腐败正是那些行之有效的叙事之一，”他说。
“And they’re looking for why. Who’s to blame for this? And corruption is one of those narratives that works,” he said.
民主党领导人希望将民众对飙升的汽油和杂货价格的愤怒引向特朗普，同时像奥巴马那样强调，自特朗普开启第二任期以来，其净资产已增加了数十亿美元。
Democratic leaders hope to funnel that anger at soaring gas and grocery costs toward Trump, while highlighting, like Obama did, that the president’s net worth has risen by billions of dollars since he began his second term.
“难以置信的腐败程度与生活成本的持续上涨之间存在直接联系，”众议院民主党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯9月表示。
“There’s a direct link between the unbelievable levels of corruption and the continued rise in the cost of living,” Hakeem Jeffries, the top House Democrat, said in September.
特朗普也曾多次指责其政治对手有不当行为，尽管他的攻击主要集中在所谓的选举舞弊上。
Trump has also repeatedly accused his political opponents of wrongdoing, though his attacks primarily focus on alleged election fraud.
他否认存在任何利益冲突，也否认自就职以来参与过其家族的商业交易。水门事件？
He has denied any conflicts of interest or that he has been involved in his family’s business deals since taking office. Watergate?
尽管如此，他公开模糊了政府职权与个人生意之间的界限——一个典型例子是选择自家高尔夫度假村主办即将举行的二十国集团峰会。
Nonetheless, he openly blurs the lines between government and personal business – a prime example being the choice of his own golf resort to host an upcoming G-20 summit.
他还因历史上极高数量的股票交易、其家族在全球签署合同，以及卡塔尔赠送的一架免费豪华客机将被用作“空军一号”而受到审查。
He has also faced scrutiny over his historically high number of stock trades, contracts being inked by his family around the world, and the peculiar gift of a free luxury jet by Qatar to be used as Air Force One.
但迄今为止，没有任何带有腐败嫌疑的丑闻引发过可与水门事件相提并论的轰动性反弹，后者导致理查德·尼克松于1974年辞职。
But none of the scandals with whiffs of corruption have so far triggered sensational backlash comparable to the Watergate saga, which led to Richard Nixon’s resignation in 1974.
特朗普是否因其商人背景而获得“豁免”，抑或公众和媒体对所谓腐败的看法发生了更深层的转变？
Could Trump be getting a pass due to his businessman background, or are there deeper shifts in how the public and media perceive alleged corruption?
特朗普的副总统J.D. 万斯曾表示，如果水门事件发生在今天，“那将只是一个12小时的新闻故事”。
Trump’s vice-president, J.D. Vance, remarked that had such a scandal as Watergate occurred nowadays “it would be like a 12-hour news story”.
“认为它会推翻一个总统职位的想法简直是疯狂，”这位极有可能角逐2028年总统大选的人补充道。
“The idea that it would have taken down a presidency is crazy,” the likely 2028 presidential contender added.