试想一下。2016年，共和党在众议院拥有241个席位的稳固多数时，众议院共和党会议再次选举技术官僚型的政策专家保罗·瑞安担任众议院议长。昨天，众议院共和党会议选举吉姆·乔丹为党团领袖。乔丹否认2020年大选结果，并为1月6日事件辩护。据预测，全部选票统计完成后，该党团最终将仅有176名成员。
Consider this. In 2016, the House GOP conference reelected Paul Ryan, a technocratic policy nerd, as speaker of the House, when the GOP held a robust majority of 241 seats. Yesterday, the House GOP conference elected Jim Jordan, a 2020 election denier and Jan. 6 defender, as the leader of their caucus, which is forecast to end up with a meager 176 members when all votes are counted.
这十年间的蜕变——从思想领袖和前副总统候选人，沦为咆哮的阴谋论者——折射出特朗普时代共和党的空心化。乔丹代表俄亥俄州第四选区，是众议院自由核心小组的联合创始人。他在秘密投票中以106票对73票击败多数党领袖史蒂夫·斯卡利斯，后者将自己标榜为更温和的选择。
This decade-long devolution, from thought leader and former VP candidate to snarling conspiracy theorist, captures the hollowing out of the GOP in the Trump era. Jordan, who represents Ohio’s 4th District and is a co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus, won the secret ballot 106-73 over Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who pitched himself as the more moderate choice.
“我可以去最铁杆的红区，也可以去最摇摆的选区，”斯卡利斯周二宣称。“我们将不得不回到那些我们失去的摇摆选区，我们会把它们赢回来。”然而，斯卡利斯这一站得住脚的论点并未打动共和党众议员，他们想要一个置身于僵化领导层结构之外的人，一个愿意与民主党人斗争的人，而民主党人已理所当然地计划了一份积极监督的议程。62岁的乔丹目前担任众议院司法委员会主席，他在委员会上的提问常常沦为对证人的大喊大叫，而在当前版本的共和党中，这显然被视为领导力和力量的体现。
“I can go to the most ruby-red or the most swing district,” Scalise declared on Tuesday. “We’re going to have to go back to those swing districts we lost, and we’ll get those back.”Yet Scalise’s solid argument fell flat with GOP House members, who wanted someone outside the inert leadership structure — and someone who would battle with Democrats, who have rightly planned an agenda of aggressive oversight. Jordan, 62, currently chairs the House Judiciary Committee, where his questions have frequently descended into yelling at witnesses, which apparently passes for leadership and strength in the current iteration of the GOP.
“我们正在为战争做准备。而你正在跟一个被称为‘锤子’的人说话。你知道我们需要一个能重拳出击的人，我认为他会做到这一点，”佛罗里达州众议员兰迪·法恩在接受Axios采访时说。
“We’re gearing up for war. And you’re talking to a guy who’s known as a hammer. You know we need someone who can punch hard, and I think that he’ll do that,” said Florida Congressman Randy Fine in an interview with Axios.
乔丹曾是大学摔跤手，他肯定会“猛烈出击”。但对于如今身处特朗普时代暮色的共和党来说，真正的问题在于这一切究竟为了什么。就连乔丹执掌司法委员会期间也难言成功，他的许多调查都以失败告终。其中包括他对富尔顿县地方检察官法妮·威利斯和前特别检察官杰克·史密斯的调查，这两人都因调查特朗普试图推翻2020年大选结果而触怒了特朗普总统。
Jordan, a one-time collegiate wrestler, will certainly “punch hard.”The question for the GOP, serving now in the twilight of the Trump years, is to what real end. Even Jordan’s time atop the Judiciary Committee has hardly been a success, with many of his investigations ending in failure. That includes his probes of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and former Special Counsel Jack Smith, who both ran afoul of President Donald Trump for investigating his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
上周，至少有30名共和党众议员失去席位，其中许多人来自摇摆选区，另一些人则来自共和党本以为稳操胜券的选区。
Last week, at least 30 Republican members of the House lost their seats, many from swing districts, and others from what the GOP thought would be safe districts.
佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯将这场选举惨败称为近乎灭绝级别的事件，这促使共和党进行了错误类型的反思，而共和党已不再是一个健康、以政策为驱动、有原则的政党。相反，该党现在只是一个缺乏愿景的MAGA残余势力，正因如此，像乔丹这样热爱福克斯新闻的人才能登上领袖之位。
The electoral thrashing, dubbed a near-extinction-level event by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, prompted the wrong type of reassessment among the GOP, which is no longer a healthy, policy-driven, principled party. Instead, the party is now just a MAGA rump, with little vision, which is how someone like the Fox-loving Jordan ascended to leader.
为2028年赢得共和党总统候选人提名的人制定立法和信息传递路线，是党领袖职责的一部分。关键在于让选民相信你看到了他们的问题，并且你正在努力寻求切实可行的解决方案。
Laying out a legislative and messaging path for whoever wins the Republican nomination for the White House in 2028 is part of the job of being a party leader. It’s about convincing voters you see their problems and that you are working towards a realistic solution.
“当民主党人提供更多政府时，我们将提供更多自由，”乔丹昨天在一场新闻发布会上毫无逻辑地说道。“我们将在委员会、在议场、在竞选舞台上每一天都进行这场斗争。”另一边，民主党人预计将在下周推举56岁的少数党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯出任众议院议长，投票定于明年1月新议员宣誓就职时进行。杰弗里斯是一位深思熟虑的立法策略家，举止像他当年做公司律师时那样，他与好斗的乔丹之间的反差将对民主党有利。
“When Democrats offer more government, we’ll offer more freedom,” Jordan said, nonsensically, at a news conference yesterday. “We’ll bring that fight in committee, on the floor and on the stump every single day.”On the other side, Democrats are expected to tap Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, 56, as speaker of the House next week, with a vote set in January when new members are sworn in. The contrast between Jeffries, a deliberative legislative tactician who behaves like the corporate lawyer he once was, and the pugilistic Jordan will serve Democrats well.
当被问及能否与乔丹合作时，杰弗里斯——他曾称这位即将上任的少数党领袖是“MAGA极端主义的典型代表”——表示：“这还有待观察。”此外，不妨看看前众议院议长约翰·博纳2021年在接受哥伦比亚广播公司采访时对这位俄亥俄州同乡的评价。
Asked if he could work with Jordan, Jeffries, who once called the incoming minority leader “the poster child for MAGA extremism,” said, “[t]hat remains to be seen.”Also, consider what former Speaker of the House John Boehner said about his fellow Ohioan in 2021 in an interview with CBS.
“我从未见过一个人花那么多时间拆台，从不建设任何东西，从不把任何东西拼凑起来，”博纳说。他因受到强硬派共和党人的压力，于2015年辞去议长职务。
“I just never saw a guy who spent more time tearing things apart, never building anything, never putting anything together,” said Boehner, who resigned as speaker in 2015 because of pressure from hardline Republicans.
这很难算是对众议院共和党所选领袖的响亮背书。相反，这是对一个萎缩且无能的政党的控诉——该党专注于与特朗普时代的幽灵作战，却以建设未来为代价。中期选举结果本是一个反思并做得更好的机会。共和党人变本加厉地推行那套让他们日益缩小的策略，这对他们的政党不利，对国家也不利。
That’s hardly a ringing endorsement of the House GOP’s choice as a leader. It is instead an indictment of a shrunken and inept party focused on battling Trump-era ghosts at the expense of building a future. The midterm results were an opportunity to reflect and do better. It is bad for their party and for the country that Republicans doubled down on a strategy that has made them smaller.