全国各地的共和党人正因一系列只能用“地震级”来形容的失利而元气大伤。中期选举向来对占据椭圆形办公室的政党不利，但这一次选举显然是对特朗普式民粹主义政治的一次公投。
All across the nation, Republicans are reeling from a series of losses that can only be described as seismic. Midterm elections have traditionally proven unfavorable for the party occupying the Oval Office, but this election was clearly a referendum on Trumpian populist politics.
在得克萨斯州，共和党失去了一个参议院席位，因为特朗普在初选中挑战一位与他意见不合的现任参议员，力捧一位（除其他外）曾被自己党内成员拒绝的官员。这为一位曲解经文以迎合自己说辞的民主党人铺平了道路。
In Texas, Republicans lost a Senate seat after Trump primaried a sitting senator who disagreed with him, for the benefit of an official who had, among other things, been rejected by members of his own party. This cleared the way for a Democrat who distorts Scripture to fit his own narrative.
在南卡罗来纳州，共和党又失去了一个参议院席位，因为裙带关系无法掩盖经验的缺失。在北卡罗来纳州，共和党又丢掉了一个席位，因为总统支持一位政治操盘手，后者试图将自己包装成北卡罗来纳州农村价值观的捍卫者，显得极不真诚，尽管他过去近20年大多在华盛顿光鲜的走廊里度过。
In South Carolina, Republicans lost another Senate seat because nepotism doesn’t serve as a cover for experience. In North Carolina, Republicans surrendered yet another seat after the president backed a political operative who made an inauthentic attempt to portray himself as a champion of rural North Carolina values, despite having spent the better part of 20 years working in the polished corridors of Washington.
当一些共和党人沉浸在政治权力的璀璨舞厅中时，他们未能诚实且公开地承认选民正承受着物价冲击的痛苦。贸易战推高了商品成本。伊朗的持续冲突推高了汽油价格，而政府在向美国公众传达美方卷入冲突的明确目标方面彻底失败。房价依然高得难以持续，让拥有自己的住房越来越超出普通美国人的承受范围。
While some Republicans enjoyed the glistening ballrooms of political power, they failed to acknowledge honestly and publicly the sticker shock being felt by their constituents. The trade war drove up the cost of goods. The ongoing conflict in Iran has driven up gas prices and the administration has failed spectacularly to communicate a clear objective for American involvement in the conflict. Housing prices remain unsustainably high, putting homeownership increasingly beyond the reach of the average American.
与此同时，特朗普却专注于建筑雄心：在白宫几乎每个缝隙都镀上金，建造总统直升机停机坪，修建一个规模远超白宫的舞厅，计划在华盛顿竖起一座金色拱门，并将自己的名字加在肯尼迪中心上。
Meanwhile, Trump has remained preoccupied with architectural ambitions: adding gold to nearly every crevice of the White House, constructing a presidential helipad, building a ballroom that dwarfs the White House, planning to erect a golden arch in Washington and adding his own name to the Kennedy Center.
然而，美国人并不愚蠢。民主党只是利用了现实。对共和党而言，这是一个现代版的“玛丽·安托瓦内特”时刻：“让他们吃蛋糕吧。”共和党也浪费了实现善治的机会。尽管《第1号众议院法案》（H.R.1）——“宏伟美好法案”代表了一次重大的立法胜利，但内部分歧使2024年向美国人承诺的大部分立法进展陷入停滞。
Americans, however, are not stupid. Democrats simply capitalized on reality. For Republicans, this was a modern-day Marie Antoinette situation: “Let them eat cake.”Republicans also squandered their opportunity to deliver good governance. While H.R.1, the “Big Beautiful Bill,” represented a significant legislative victory, internal divisions brought much of the legislative progress promised to Americans in 2024 to a grinding halt.
这些内斗公开化，暴露了共和党内部明显的裂痕，核心在于一位似乎无法与持不同意见者合作的总统。埃隆·马斯克、塔克·卡尔森、参议员约翰·科宁（共和党-得克萨斯州）和汤姆·蒂利斯（共和党-北卡罗来纳州）、众议员托马斯·马西（共和党-肯塔基州）等人都曾在某个时刻招致总统的愤怒，导致共和党分裂。
Those feuds spilled into public view, exposing a clear fissure within the Republican Party primarily centered around a president seemingly incapable of working with those who disagree with him. Elon Musk, Tucker Carlson, Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and others have all, at one point or another, drawn the ire of the president, and have fractured the Republican Party.
此外，2024年大选的若干竞选承诺仍未兑现。俄乌战争尚未结束。通胀未见缓解。医疗改革停滞。能源价格上涨。教育部依然存在。美国人未收到“政府效率部”（DOGE）红利。未颁布全国性的公民身份证明要求。
In addition, several campaign promises from the 2024 election remain unfilled. The Russia-Ukraine War has not ended. Inflation has not subsided. Healthcare reform has stalled. Energy prices are rising. The Department of Education still exists. Americans received no Department of Government Efficiency “DOGE” dividend. No national proof of citizenship requirement has been enacted.
未兑现、停滞和被修改的承诺，仅仅削弱了民众对特朗普所在政党的信任。
Unfulfilled, stalled and altered promises have simply eroded trust in Trump’s party.
还必须指出，共和党的一项主要竞选信息是逃避问责。政府官员在全国各地竞选时警告称，民主党一旦重夺众参两院控制权，将立即转向调查共和党。这为民主党的问责主张提供了燃料。这种竞选信息对美国人每天面临的经济现实充耳不闻。
It must also be noted that a major campaign message from Republicans was avoiding accountability. Administration officials campaigned across the country warning that Democrats, upon regaining control of the House and Senate, would immediately turn their attention toward investigating Republicans. This provided Democrats with fuel for accountability. Such campaign messaging was tone deaf to the economic reality Americans are facing each day.
归根结底，民粹主义运动的危险在于，它会让政党变得毫无骨气，剥夺其真正的特质。太多共和党人拒绝实事求是，将任何与总统意见不合者视为异己。
Ultimately, the danger of a populist movement is that it can render political parties spineless and strip them of their true character. Too many Republicans refused to call things what they are, treating anyone who disagreed with the president as an outcast.
团结绝不应意味着雷同。当行政首脑不受质疑时，共和党最终会发现，美国公众完全愿意让他们承担责任。或许最危险的是，这种政治理念与美国最持久的原则之一——思想自由表达——截然对立。
Unity should never mean uniformity. When a chief executive goes unquestioned, Republicans eventually discover that the American public is quite willing to hold them accountable. Perhaps most dangerous of all, this political philosophy stands in direct opposition to one of America’s most enduring principles: the free expression of ideas.
共和党明智的做法是，在开始为2028年做准备之际，认真对待这一时刻。美国民众对当前的政治建制已深恶痛绝，以至于他们似乎越来越愿意把主张社会主义意识形态的候选人送进国会，也不愿再选一个共和党人。对于一个以个人自由、经济机会和有原则的领导力自居的政党来说，这应当是一个令人清醒的认知。泽维尔·凯利牧师是一名持证浸信会牧师，曾任私立学校教师。
Republicans would be wise to take this moment seriously as they begin preparing for 2028. Americans are so fed up with the current political establishment that they appear increasingly willing to send candidates espousing socialist ideologies to Congress rather than elect another Republican. That should be a sobering realization for a party that prides itself on individual liberty, economic opportunity and principled leadership. Pastor Xavier Kelley is a licensed Baptist minister and former private school teacher.