参议员查克·舒默已经在为2028年选举绘制目标名单，希望民主党能够建立一个能够持续多年的“稳固多数”。
Sen. Chuck Schumer is already mapping out a target list for the 2028 elections, hoping Democrats can build “a durable majority” that lasts for many years.
这位参议院少数党领袖预计将在几周内赢得争取多数党领袖的选举，他指出本月民主党在少数几个州取得了大幅胜利，共和党必须在两年后捍卫这些州。如果他们在阿拉斯加的当前领先优势得以保持，民主党明年将拥有56个席位，而在2028年再获得的任何额外席位都将使他们更接近参议院的圣杯——能够阻止冗长议事程序的60席多数。
The Senate minority leader, who expects to win his race to become majority leader in a few weeks, pointed to a handful of states where Democrats just won big this month that Republicans must defend in two years. If their current lead in Alaska holds up, Democrats will have 56 seats next year, and any additional gains in 2028 would get them closer to the senatorial Holy Grail of a filibuster-proof 60-seat majority.
包括爱荷华州的乔什·图雷克、堪萨斯州的亚当·汉密尔顿以及南卡罗来纳州的安妮·安德鲁斯在内的新面孔，将被派往各自保守州向选民推销民主党的品牌，并为新招募的候选人再次在这些州竞争打开大门。
Newcomers including Josh Turek of Iowa, Adam Hamilton of Kansas and Annie Andrews of South Carolina are going to be deployed to sell the Democratic brand to voters in their conservative states and open the doors for new recruits to again compete there.
舒默在接受《华盛顿太阳报》周二晚间采访时说：“这将改变民主党在这些州的整体形象，并让我们更容易——这可能是必要但不足够的——收复其中一些席位。如果我们再赢得四个席位，哇！我并不是在预测我们一定会赢，这还为时过早，但那将是惊人的成绩。”采访地点位于参议院议场旁的二层办公室。
“It’ll change the whole way the Democratic Party is viewed in those states, and make it easier — it’s necessary but not sufficient, maybe — to take back some of these seats. And if we win four more seats, wow! Not predicting we will, it’s too early to tell, but that would be amazing,” Schumer told The Washington Sun on Tuesday evening in an interview in his second-floor office just off the Senate floor.
如果他的同僚同意他的晋升，舒默将有望成为历史上第一位先后担任少数党领袖、随后成为多数党领袖、再回到少数党领袖并再次夺回多数党领袖的参议院领袖。这显示了他在一个在重大政治失利后往往会抛弃领袖、如同体育球队在输季后解雇主教练的机构中的持久力。
If his colleagues agree to his promotion, Schumer is poised to make history as the first Senate leader to go from minority leader to majority leader, back to minority leader and then reclaim majority leader. It’s a sign of his own staying power in an institution that tends to cast aside leaders after big political defeats the way sports teams fire head coaches after losing seasons.
然而，舒默的晋升并不轻松。近两年来，他一直受到左翼，尤其是年轻的、活跃于网络的一代的批评。该代人将即将在感恩节前生日的、现年76岁的舒默视为民主党过去的遗留人物，认为他不懂现代政治斗争。
But Schumer is not getting an easy promotion. For almost two years, he has faced criticism from the left, particularly the younger, heavily online generation that saw Schumer, who turns 76 just before Thanksgiving, as a relic of the Democratic past who didn’t appreciate modern political warfare.
尽管民主党在参议院可能获得九个席位的净增——这将是该党自1958年中期选举以来在参议院选举中最大的收获——但佛蒙特州参议员伯尼·桑德斯正在带头呼吁有人出来挑战舒默。这位与民主党核心小组会议的独立人士刚满85岁，他希望看到领导权传递给年轻一代。密歇根州首任参议员埃莉萨·斯洛特金周二与桑德斯同台，加入了他呼吁新领导层的行列，但到目前为止，只有马里兰州参议员克里斯·范霍伦表现出有意发起挑战。
Despite a potential nine-seat gain — which would be the party’s largest Senate haul in an election since the 1958 midterms — Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is leading calls for someone to challenge Schumer. The independent who caucuses with Democrats, who just turned 85 himself, wants to see the leadership torch passed to a younger generation. First-term Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan appeared alongside Sanders on Tuesday to join his call for new leadership, but so far only Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland has entertained the idea of a challenge.
“我将当选领袖，好吗，我们在议题上团结一致。我们团结一致，”舒默对《太阳报》表示，称他已通过一轮给核心小组会议成员的电话锁定了足够多的支持。
“I am going to be elected leader, OK, and we’re united on the issues. We’re united,” Schumer told The Sun, saying he has already locked down more than enough support through a round of phone calls to the caucus.
在最近一次上MSNBC的《早安乔》节目前，舒默看着新泽西州参议员科里·布克——进步派的宠儿——以及在堪萨斯州走中间路线的汉密尔顿，在节目中用相似的基调谈论他们党的经济议程，即对抗亿万富翁和降低成本。
Before a recent appearance on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe,” Schumer watched as Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, a darling of progressives, and Hamilton, who ran to the middle in Kansas, talked on the show in similar tones about their party’s economic agenda of confronting billionaires and reducing costs.
“他们在议题上、在实质内容上、在我们想为民众做什么方面，在经济问题上的回答惊人地相似。草原民粹主义从国家这一端行之有效，到那一端也行之有效，”舒默说，并补充道，“我在核心小组会议中拥有广泛而深厚的支持。”参议员们的不满更多不是关于寻找新的党团领袖——最有野心的参院民主党人似乎都在盯着总统竞选，包括范霍伦——而是关于确保领导层过渡尽快发生。
“Their answers on the issues, on the substance, on what we wanted to do for people, were remarkably the same on economic issues. Prairie populism works from one end of the country to the other,” Schumer said, adding, “I have broad and deep support in my caucus.”The discontent among senators is less about finding a new floor leader — the most ambitious Senate Democrats all seem to be eyeing presidential bids, including Van Hollen — and more about assuring a leadership transition will happen soon.
仍站在舒默一边的佛蒙特州参议员彼得·韦尔奇表示，他想要的“大变革”是将权力从领导层办公室下放到普通民主党参议员手中。
Vermont Sen. Peter Welch, who is still in Schumer’s corner, said the “big change” he wants is for powers to be delegated away from the leadership suite and into the hands of rank-and-file Democrats.
“我希望那些以胜利激励全国的新成员——包括在特朗普深度红区获胜的人——能更多地成为我们党的门面，我正敦促舒默确保这些人处于最前沿、最核心的位置，”韦尔奇周二对记者说。
“I want the new members who electrified the nation with their victories, including in deep Trump districts — [they] need to be more the face of our party, and I’m urging Schumer to make sure that those folks are front and center,” Welch told reporters Tuesday.
缓解这种内部压力的一种方式，是让舒默告诉同僚，2027年和2028年将是他担任领袖的最后两年，之后他将退休。
One way to alleviate that internal pressure would be for Schumer to tell his colleagues that 2027 and 2028 would be his last years as leader, and after that he will retire.
但舒默推迟了关于自己未来的任何决定，尽管他在家乡纽约州面临2028年的连任竞选，那里关于左翼人士在以极低投票率著称的民主党初选中发起挑战的传言，每个月都愈演愈烈。
But Schumer put off any decision about his own future even as he faces reelection in 2028 back home in New York, where talk of a left-wing challenge in the notoriously low-turnout Democratic primary grows louder each month.
“我现在专注于2027年，以及我们兑现承诺、把工作做好。这就是我要说的，”他说。
“I am focused right now on 2027 and our promise to get the job done. That’s what I’ll say,” he said.
参议院领袖向来不愿过早宣布自己的计划，以免在党团为继任之争角力时沦为跛脚鸭。
Senate leaders are traditionally loath to announce their plans too early and become lame ducks as their caucuses jostle over a succession fight.
肯塔基州参议员米奇·麦康奈尔于2024年2月宣布，在经历多次健康问题后，他将在年底卸任共和党领袖，结束其长达18年的党魁生涯。舒默的前任、内华达州的哈里·里德遭遇严重受伤导致单眼失明，最终于2015年春季宣布退休计划，为舒默顺利接任领袖职务铺平了道路。
Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky announced in February 2024, following a multitude of health issues, that he would step aside as Republican leader at the end of that year, after 18 years at the top of his party. Harry Reid of Nevada, Schumer’s predecessor, suffered a brutal injury that blinded him in one eye, and he eventually announced his retirement plans in the spring of 2015, helping smooth Schumer’s rise into the leader’s office.
目前的局势最类似于1986年，当时民主党在罗纳德·里根第二个任期的中期选举中赢得八个席位，重夺多数党地位。参议院多数党领袖罗伯特·C·伯德面临党内批评者指责其风格与新电视时代脱节，但他直到1988年春季才宣布将卸任领袖，转任实力强大的拨款委员会主席。
The current situation most mirrors 1986, when the Democrats won eight seats in Ronald Reagan’s second midterm and reclaimed the majority. Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd faced internal critics who saw his style as out of touch for the new TV era, but he waited until the spring of 1988 to announce he would step down as leader and become chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee.
当被提及这一前例时，舒默回到该党竞选主题的团结上来，即抨击特朗普政府，拒绝谈及自己何时交出权力。
Reminded of that example, Schumer returned to the party’s unity of their campaign themes attacking the Trump administration, declining to address when his own transition out of power would take place.
“我们在成本、混乱和腐败这三个问题上团结一致，这是我们党团关注的重点。当我和新议员们交谈时，他们对能作为一个整体共同推进这些工作感到兴奋，”他说。
“We are united on the issues of cost and chaos and corruption, which our caucus focused on. And when I talk to the freshmen, they’re excited doing that together as a unit,” he said.
舒默没有遇到任何健康问题，他在长达30分钟的采访开头，首先推销2026年的政治成果，以及立即为2028年赢取更多席位而展开的努力，这体现了他作为竞选策略师的标志性特质。
Schumer, who has not faced any health issues, began the 30-minute interview selling the political successes of 2026 and the immediate effort to win more seats in 2028, going to his hallmark trait of campaign strategist first and foremost.
但他和众议员哈基姆·杰弗里斯——这位同样出生于布鲁克林、几乎板上钉钉将成为众议院议长的人——如何共同治理国会，将决定是缓解紧张局势，还是进一步分裂民主党。随着2028年总统大选临近，该党实在承担不起今年初选中几场竞争所暴露的那种意识形态分裂。
But how he and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, a fellow Brooklyn native who is all but certain to become House speaker, govern Congress will either ease tensions or further divide a party that, heading into the 2028 presidential elections, can ill afford the type of ideological division that gripped several of this year’s primary contests.
当务之急是拿出一批被认为在政治上广受欢迎的法案，逐个提交审议。这些将是单一法案，分别进行辩论和表决，避免现代参议院将许多法案捆绑成一个庞大、令人困惑的大包装的做法，这种大包装容易让少数党集中火力反对。
The immediate goal is to take a collection of bills that are considered politically popular and bring them up one by one. These will be narrow bills to be debated and voted on individually, avoiding the modern Senate practice of lumping many bills into one massive, confusing package that becomes easy for the minority party to oppose.
民主党提出的一些想法包括提高联邦最低工资、恢复提高《平价医疗法案》参保率的税收补贴，以及通过禁止议员和行政官员炒股的反腐败立法。这复制了共和党的做法：他们通过一项法案，授权移民和海关执法局追捕被指控犯有暴力罪行的无证移民，在边境安全问题于2024年大选中严重打击民主党后，该法案令民主党内部产生了尖锐分歧。
Some ideas floated by Democrats include raising the federal minimum wage, restoring tax subsidies that boosted participation in the Affordable Care Act and passing anti-corruption legislation that bans lawmakers and administration officials from trading stocks. It’s a replay of how Republicans passed a bill that empowered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to pursue undocumented immigrants accused of violent crimes, bitterly dividing Democrats after the issue of border security played sharply against them in the 2024 elections.
“我们将把一些法案提交全院表决，这些法案深受美国民众欢迎，重点关注生活成本、腐败和混乱等问题，我们将拭目以待，但这将是一大批法案，”舒默说。“他们会反对恢复《平价医疗法案》补贴吗？这在他们的州非常受欢迎，难道他们要让民众失去医疗保障？他们会说参议员和总统从事内幕交易是可以接受的吗？”杰弗里斯拥有可能多达260名民主党人的庞大多数优势，将轻松在实行多数决的众议院通过这些法案，无需一张共和党选票。
“We’re going to put bills on the floor that are very popular with the American people, that focus on costs above all, corruption and chaos, and we’ll see where they go, but it’s going to be a bunch,” Schumer said. “And are they going to oppose restoring the ACA subsidies, which are so popular in their states, and let people lose [health care]? Are they going to say it’s OK for senators and the president to do inside trading?”Jeffries, with a bulging majority of potentially 260 Democrats, will easily pass those bills out of the majority-rules House without needing a single Republican vote.
舒默必须跨过60票门槛才能在参议院获得通过，但他相信，2028年面临选民考验的一些共和党人会想要与选民搞好关系。
Schumer must clear the 60-vote hurdle to win Senate approval, but he believes some of the Republicans facing voters in 2028 will want to get right with constituents.
“我甚至已经开始听到共和党人释放出一些微弱信号，说‘我们也许可以在这个问题或那个问题上与你们合作’，我想说的是：争取四票比争取六票容易，”他说，指的是赢得阿拉斯加和密西西比州会带来的差别。（他在密西西比州选情宣布由民主党获胜前发表了上述言论。）一贯精于政治算计的舒默表示，特朗普总统要么签署这些立法，要么通过行使否决权进一步损害共和党在2028年的前景，助力民主党在一个他们希望赢得总统职位和国会两院“三权合一”的年份，就像他们在2006年横扫众参两院后于2008年所做的那样。
“I even have begun to hear little glimmers from Republicans who are saying, ‘We maybe can work with you on this issue or that issue or this issue,’ and I’d say this: Four votes is easier than six,” he said, referring to the difference that winning Alaska and Mississippi would make. (He spoke before Mississippi’s race was called for the Democrats.) Always the political animal, Schumer said that President Donald Trump will either sign that legislation or further hurt the Republican cause in 2028 by vetoing it, aiding the Democrats in a year when they will be hoping to win the trifecta of the presidency and Congress, just like they did in 2008 after sweeping the House and Senate in 2006.
“从某种意义上说，这是双赢。我更愿意把事情办成，但这不会阻止我们，”他说。“无论有没有特朗普，有没有共和党人，我们都将继续推进。”
“In a certain sense, it’s a win-win. I’d rather get things done, but it’s not going to stop us,” he said. “We are going to move forward with or without Trump, with or without the Republicans.”