在任何选举周期中，候选人、官员和党魁将最有力的信息留到最后关头、即所谓的“结案陈词”阶段发布，这乃是常态——这个词汇是政界从庭审律师那里借用而来的。经过数月的演讲、辩论、采访以及与选民的无数次互动，这是政治人物最后一次机会全力以赴，概括阐述为何理应获得公众支持。
In any election cycle, it’s common for candidates, officials and party leaders to save their strongest message for what’s known as a “closing argument” — a phrase the political world borrows from trial lawyers. After months of speeches, debates, s, interviews and countless interactions with voters, this is the final opportunity for political players to put their best foot forward and summarize why they deserve the public’s support.
唐纳德·特朗普近期在竞选路上花费了大量时间，我已多次听到他的结案信息。虽然我确信总统希望选民在投下选票时知晓这一信息，但我完全不确定那究竟是什么。《大西洋月刊》的乔纳森·勒米尔这样总结这一问题：现代政治史上，鲜有结案陈词像唐纳德·特朗普在下周中期选举前为共和党同僚所献上的这般显得脱离现实、自毁前程，甚至彻头彻尾地离奇古怪。
Donald Trump has spent quite a bit of time on the campaign trail lately, and I’ve heard his closing message several times. And while I’m certain the president wants voters to know as they cast their ballots, I’m not at all sure what that is. The Atlantic’s Jonathan Lemire summarized the problem this way: Modern political history offers few examples of closing arguments that appear more out of touch, self-defeating, or downright bizarre than what Donald Trump has offered his fellow Republicans ahead of next week’s midterm elections.
民主党的信息正如贝拉克·奥巴马等人所阐述的那样，相对直截了当：特朗普和共和党掌权后让局势恶化。由民主党主导的国会可以制衡白宫滥权，追究腐败者责任，并推动政策让国家重回正轨。特朗普的信息……则难以捉摸。
The Democratic message, as articulated by Barack Obama among others, is relatively straightforward: Trump and Republicans took power and made things worse. A Democratic-led Congress can serve as a check on White House abuses, hold the corrupt accountable, and push policies that would help get the country back on track. Trump’s message is … harder to nail down.
看完他最后一周的集会演讲并阅读其社交媒体发文后，显而易见，总统极其在意共和党参议员乔恩·赫斯特德的臀部。以及认知测试。以及石油行业的利润。以及华盛顿特区的高尔夫球场。以及他试图给人工智能改名的古怪举动。
After watching his final-week rallies and reading his social media messages, it’s clear that the president cares a great deal about Republican Sen. Jon Husted’s buttocks. And cognitive tests. And the oil industry’s profits. And golf courses in Washington, D.C. And his weird attempts to give artificial intelligence a new name.
同样显而易见的是，特朗普拼命想让美国人憎恨民主党众议员伊尔汗·奥马尔，并恐惧那些信奉共产主义的跨性别穆斯林移民，据称这些人还想夺走汉堡包。
It’s equally clear that Trump desperately wants Americans to hate Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar and fear transgender Muslim immigrants who believe in communism, and who apparently want to take hamburgers away.
共和党籍总统是否有任何政策优先事项，或对任期最后两年的愿景？答案是没有，但他对比尔·马赫（这是特朗普自推出自家社交媒体平台以来发布的最长单条网络帖子的攻击对象）、白宫装修，以及新墨西哥州改名会有多棒等话题，却有大量看法。
Does the Republican president have any policy priorities or a vision for the final two years of his term? Well, no, but he has a lot of thoughts about Bill Maher (the target of Trump’s single longest online post since launching his own social media platform), White House renovations and why it would be awesome if New Mexico changed its name.
“大西洋月刊”的勒米尔补充道：“许多共和党人，甚至特朗普身边的一些人，都不太理解。他们问道，那个创造了美国政治史上最不可能的两次胜利的人，他的政治直觉到底怎么了？
“Many Republicans, and even some in Trump’s orbit, don’t quite get it,” The Atlantic’s Lemire added. “What has happened, they ask, to the instincts of the man who authored two of the most improbable victories in American political history?
“特朗普的超能力在于他对支持者动机的直观理解。许多共和党人私下告诉我，他已经失去了那种感觉。在他们看来，特朗普现在生活在一个镀金的泡沫里，与亿万富翁们厮混，对许多选民面临的问题视而不见——甚至更糟，根本不在乎。” 关于如果民主党在下周表现良好，白宫会怪罪谁，已经有大量揣测。特朗普是否准备好承认自己在奔波全国、兜售只有他自己似乎在乎的古怪荒诞言论中所扮演的角色，仍有待观察。
“Trump’s superpower was his intuitive understanding of what motivated his supporters. Many Republicans privately tell me that he’s lost that feel. Trump now lives, they think, in a gilded bubble, palling around with billionaires, oblivious to — and, even worse, uncaring about — the problems facing so many voters.”There’s already ample speculation about whom the White House will blame if Democrats fare well next week. Whether Trump is prepared to acknowledge his own role in crisscrossing the nation, peddling weird absurdities that only he seems to care about, remains to be seen.