杰弗里斯做到了。经过一年的严守信息纪律、围绕可负担性与问责制的顽强斗争，尽管党内批评者质疑他的策略，杰弗里斯即将成为众议院议长，这将是美国历史上首位担任该职位的黑人。
Jeffries got it done. After a year of disciplined messaging and dogged fights over affordability and accountability, and despite critics in his own party who questioned his strategy, Jeffries is poised to become speaker of the House, a historic first for a Black American.
凭借净增至少40个席位，杰弗里斯将拥有舒适的多数优势，这一多数由在红州选区获胜的中间偏左派议员构成，其人数远超即将进场的“小分队”派系。
With a net gain of at least 40 seats, Jeffries will have a comfortable majority powered by center-left members who won in red districts and who easily outnumber the incoming “squad” faction.
这种局面对杰弗里斯极为有利，这位前企业律师的立场比进步派更温和。这对民主党也同样有利，该党如今在阳光地带和锈带占据主导地位，正试图摆脱“与中部美国脱节”的形象。但考虑到扩大后的民主党党团意识形态多元，以及选民对物价高涨和腐败的真实愤怒，在交付什么成果、如何交付上仍将存在张力。进步派在医保和弹劾问题上主张要么彻底要么放弃。但杰弗里斯——他习惯引用“大个子斯莫尔斯”和Jay-Z的歌词，这掩盖了他谨慎、建制派的本质——明智地聚焦于切实可行之事。
That dynamic is ideal for Jeffries, a former corporate lawyer who is more moderate than progressive. It is also ideal for the Democratic Party, now dominant in the Sunbelt and Rustbelt, as it tries to rebrand from being seen as out of touch with middle America. But there will still be tensions over what and how to deliver, given the broad ideological diversity of the expanded Democratic caucus and voters’ real anger over costs and corruption. The progressives are go-big-or-go-home on healthcare and impeachment. But Jeffries, whose habit of dropping Biggie Smalls and Jay-Z lyrics obscures his cautious, establishment mien, is wisely focused on what might actually be possible.
“在新一届国会中，我们将积极争取一个可负担的美国。生活成本高得离谱，数百万辛勤工作的纳税人正在这场经济失败中挣扎求生，”杰弗里斯在宣布竞选议长的致同僚信中写道。“我的目标是赋予你们在三个关键领域果断行动的能力：（1）可负担性（2）问责制和（3）美国价值观。”正如杰弗里斯多次所言，这意味着扭转共和党对医疗补助的削减、撤销唐纳德·特朗普总统的关税并结束伊朗战争，所有这些问题在红州造成了共和党的选举灾难，因为这些州的选民正承受这些政策的冲击。
“In the new Congress, we will aggressively fight for an affordable America. Life is way too expensive, and millions of hardworking taxpayers are drowning in this failed economy,” Jeffries wrote in his letter to colleagues announcing his candidacy for speaker. “My goal is to empower you to act decisively in three key areas: (1) Affordability (2) Accountability and (3) American Values.”As Jeffries has said frequently, that means reversing Republican Medicaid cuts, undoing President Donald Trump’s tariffs and ending the Iran war, all issues that created an electoral disaster for the GOP in red states where voters are feeling the brunt of these policies.
尽管如此，这将很困难，因为特朗普仍在任，他在椭圆形办公桌上放了一顶印有“VETO”（否决）字样的帽子。（特朗普还说：“我们可能会在过程中达成一些协议。”我们拭目以待，看他即将上任的幕僚长斯蒂芬·米勒对此有何评论。）“当我们面临分裂政府，且临近总统大选时，僵局会更多。所以这将是一个挑战，”乔治·华盛顿大学政治学教授、著作《他们将不得不决定，如果无法通过大量立法，你们是否只想传递信息？
Still, that will be difficult, given that Trump, who has added a “VETO” hat to his Oval Office desk, is still in office. (Trump also said, “We’ll probably make some deals along the way.” We’ll see what his incoming chief of staff, Stephen Miller, says about that.)“There’s more stalemate when we’ve got divided government and there is a run-up to a presidential election. So that’s going to be a challenge,” said Sarah Binder, political science professor at George Washington University and author of the book “They are going to have to decide if you can’t get a lot enacted, do you just want a message? But that’s not terribly satisfying.”
但这并不令人满意。》的作者萨拉·宾德说道。民主党所做的是提供强有力的监督。杰弗里斯周末表示，他对弹劾国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯是“坚定支持”。而预计将担任众议院监督和政府改革委员会主席的罗伯特·加西亚，计划重点关注他所谓的“特朗普犯罪家族”、企业腐败、移民与海关执法局（ICE）以及爱泼斯坦档案。
What Democrats do is provide aggressive oversight. Jeffries said over the weekend that he was a “hard yes” on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. And Robert Garcia, likely chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, plans to focus on what he calls the “Trump Crime Family,” corporate corruption, ICE and the Epstein files.
在大选前的最后一项CNBC民调中，腐败是36%受访者心中的首要问题，高昂的食品杂货价格以34%位居第二。
In a final CNBC poll before the election, corruption was the top issue among 36% of respondents, with high grocery prices coming in second at 34%.
新的民主党多数党定于下周在华盛顿开会，并于11月18日和19日决定领导职位。新一届国会召开、议员宣誓就职时，全院将于1月3日投票选举议长。预计杰弗里斯及其党团将立即启动“百日议程”。
The new Democratic majority is set to meet in Washington next week and decide on leadership positions on Nov. 18 and 19. The full House will vote on Jan. 3 for speaker when the new Congress convenes and members are sworn in. Expect Jeffries and his caucus to begin a 100-day agenda right away.
面对投票支持变革的选民，杰弗里斯必须小心，不要过度承诺或越权。他有时也可能不得不帮助推定的参议院多数党领袖舒默偶尔想起自己的脊梁骨，并成为他更有纪律的信息传递伙伴——就像去年政府停摆时那样。
With an electorate that voted for change, Jeffries will have to be careful not to overpromise or overreach. He will also, at times, likely have to help presumptive Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer remember his spine from time to time, and be his more disciplined messaging partner — as happened with the government shut down last year.
企业大佬和特朗普政府官员出席国会听证作证的前景，显然会让一部分选民感到满意。此外，他们还想看到那种斗争和对抗——这正是前众议院议长南希·佩洛西最擅长的——回想一下她在2020年2月特朗普发表国情咨文演讲时，坐在他身后将演讲稿撕毁的情景。
The specter of corporate bigwigs and Trump officials testifying before Congress would clearly be satisfying to a tranche of voters. Additionally, they want to see the kind of fight and confrontation that former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was so good at — recall her ripping up Trump’s speech as she sat behind him during his state of the union speech in February 2020.
“他将以布鲁克林的方式执政，既有风格又有实质，这在当下的政治时刻实属罕见，”民主党策略师安特万·西沃特说。“他将为自己的价值观和信念而战。但他也明白，进步不是永久的，必须不惜一切代价去捍卫。你获得多数派地位的速度有多快，失去它的速度就有多快。”民主党从未计划过要搭建一个如此庞大且多元的大帐篷。这将给杰弗里斯留出周旋的空间，但也意味着他要驾驭一群更难管控的人。
“He is going to govern the Brooklyn way, and that’s with style and substance and that is rare in this political moment,” said Antjuan Seawright, a Democratic strategist. “He’s going to fight for his values and beliefs. But he also understands that progress is not permanent and you have to protect it at all costs. As quickly as you get the majority, you can quickly lose it.”Democrats never planned on a tent this big and this diverse. That will give Jeffries room to maneuver but also a larger group of cats to herd.