尼古拉斯·里卡尔迪 丹佛报道 —— 当民主党几个月前开始筹划在丹佛举行中期选举后的会议时，政治顾问斯蒂芬妮·瓦伦西亚以为这又将是老一套 —— 一群策略师钻研最新选举结果，在一个由唐纳德·特朗普总统主导的国家里谋划前路。
NICHOLAS RICCARDI DENVER — When Democrats started planning a post-midterms conference in Denver months ago, political consultant Stephanie Valencia figured it would be more of the same — a bunch of strategists poring over the latest results and plotting a path forward in a country dominated by President Donald Trump.
她万万没想到，本党至今仍在庆祝他们视为梦想成真的选举：几乎赢下所有竞争激烈的选战，在密西西比州和南卡罗来纳州翻转联邦参议院席位，让得克萨斯州变蓝，并在国会赢得大比例多数席位。
She never expected that her party would still be celebrating what they consider a dream election, where they won virtually every contested race, flipped U.S. Senate seats in Mississippi and South Carolina , turned Texas blue and won big majorities in Congress.
“完全没料到会带着这么多希望来到这里，”研究拉美裔选民的机构Equis联合创始人瓦伦西亚说。“这是我们第一次能看到后特朗普时代的轮廓。”民主党人在“下一步”会议上花了两天时间咀嚼未来，试图消化一个至少眼下看起来相当光明的事实。突然间，对于一个习惯了捉襟见肘、而非挥拳庆祝的政党来说，一切似乎都成了可能。与会发言人纷纷抛出“超级多数”这个词。一位数据分析师随口谈起争取参议院60个席位，并展示幻灯片，显示密苏里州和犹他州等地存在可赢的选战。
“I did not expect to be coming here with so much hope,” said Valencia, the co-founder of Equis, which researches Latino voters. “For the first time we can see the outlines of a post-Trump era.”Democrats spent two days chewing over their future at the What’s Next conference and trying to deal with the fact that it looks, for a moment at least, quite bright. Suddenly, anything seemed possible for a party that’s become more accustomed to hand-wringing than fist-pumping. Speakers tossed around the word “supermajority.”One data analyst casually discussed pushing for 60 seats in the Senate and displayed a slide suggesting there were winnable races in places like Missouri and Utah.
“大家都为结果高兴，但大家都在回头张望，说：‘我们真能为这个高兴吗？’”多位潜在总统候选人之一、前交通部长皮特·布蒂吉格调侃道。他敦促党派庆祝胜利，同时不要把未来的胜利视为理所当然。
“Everybody’s happy about the results, but everybody’s looking over their shoulder saying, ‘Can we really be happy about this?’” quipped former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, one of several potential presidential candidates who attended. He urged the party to celebrate while not taking future wins for granted. Some warned that voters hadn’t fallen back in love with Democrats, they were just turning to them out of frustration over high prices, the Iran war and concerns about government corruption.
有人警告，选民并非重新爱上了民主党，只是因物价高企、伊朗战争和对政府腐败的担忧而感到沮丧，才转向民主党。会议未能拿出明确方案，来回应民众对负担能力和经济的普遍失望。但与会者心怀希望，认为他们有能力解决这些问题。
No clear recipe emerged from the conference to address widespread dismay about affordability and the economy. But there was hope among attendees that they had the power to figure it out. Jason Delattre and several friends came to Denver from the Rio Grande Valley after working on Democratic campaigns in Texas.
杰森·德拉特雷和几位朋友在得克萨斯州为民主党竞选活动工作后，从里奥格兰德河谷来到丹佛。他们对如今面前敞开的机遇仍感到震惊。
They were still stunned at the opportunities now open to them. “We have to figure out what we’re going to do next,” said Delattre, wearing a cowboy hat and pin for winning U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico.
“我们得想清楚下一步该做什么，”德拉特雷一边说，一边戴着一顶牛仔帽和一枚徽章，徽章上印着美国参议员当选人詹姆斯·塔拉里科的名字。
“We have so much power we didn’t have before,” said his friend, Jose Robbie Juarez.
“我们拥有了以前从未有过的巨大力量，”他的朋友何塞·罗比·华雷斯说。甚至有人对波多黎各建州终于成为可能抱有希望。
Some even had hope that statehood for Puerto Rico was finally possible. “It finally feels we’re going to get it done,” said Luis Davila, the Democratic chair on the island.
“终于感觉我们要把这事成了，”岛上民主党主席路易斯·达维拉说。
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a possible White House contender, suggested that his party should aim for a landslide win in the next presidential race.
宾夕法尼亚州州长乔什·夏皮罗是潜在的白宫竞争者，他建议本党应以大比分胜利为目标争取下一次总统大选。与其“出去为凑够270张选举人票而拼死拼活”——这是获胜所需的最低选举人票数——不如“全力以赴，争取拿下370张”。那将比贝拉克·奥巴马在2008年具有历史意义的总统竞选中赢得的选举人票多出五张，那是本世纪民主党的最高纪录。
Instead of “going out and scrapping for 270,” the minimum electoral votes for victory, they should be “fighting hard to swing for 370.”That would be five more Electoral College votes than Barack Obama won in his historic 2008 presidential campaign, which was Democrats’ previous high-water mark this century. The setting was tailor-made for good vibes — a well-known music venue in one of Denver’s hippest neighborhoods, with concert-style posters of politicians and operatives plastered on the walls.
现场专为营造良好氛围而布置——丹佛最时髦社区之一的一家知名音乐场馆，墙上贴满了政客和操盘手的演唱会风格海报。远处雪峰连绵，勾勒出窗外的地平线。
Distant snow-capped peaks framed the horizon outside. Some old divisions reared their heads.
一些旧有的分歧浮出水面。周五，左翼组织“日出运动”的几名抗议者在聚会外示威，抱怨赞助方“多数派民主党人”立场更中间，且由富有商人资助。
A handful of protesters from the leftist Sunrise Movement protested outside the gathering Friday, complaining that it was sponsored by a group, Majority Democrats, that’s more centrist and funded by wealthy businesspeople. A couple of protesters interrupted what was supposed to be a triumphant appearance by the likely new House speaker, Hakeem Jeffries.
几名抗议者打断了可能成为新任众议长哈基姆·杰弗里斯本应是凯旋式的亮相。他们要求推行“绿色新政”并对以色列实施武器禁运。一名男子在被带离礼堂时对杰弗里斯大骂脏话，并称他为“叛徒”。杰弗里斯对此一笑置之。
They demanded a Green New Deal and an arms embargo against Israel. One man shouted profanities at Jeffries and called him a “traitor” while being led from the auditorium. Jeffries brushed it off. “I’m from Brooklyn,” he said.
“我来自布鲁克林，”他说，“这算不了什么。”马里兰州参议员克里斯·范霍伦正在挑战纽约州参议员查克·舒默的党团领袖职位，他在周五出席了会议。他已与民主党自由派结盟，并辩称选民要求变革。但许多人并不担心这些分歧迹象。
“This is light work.”Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who is challenging New York Sen. Chuck Schumer for caucus leadership, appeared at the conference Friday. He’s allied himself with Democrats’ liberal wing, and he argued that voters have demanded change. But many were not worried about those signs of discord.
新泽西州参议员科里·布克可能再次竞选总统，他说领导层之争是党将在华盛顿进行的“家庭对话”，他欢迎异议的迹象。
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who may run for president again, said the leadership fight was a “family conversation” the party would have in Washington, and he welcomed signs of dissent.
“我认为我们现在拥有的这是一件好事，我们正在进行真正的讨论，”布克在采访中说。“在这样的会议上，你能看到未来，”他补充道，回归到党的乐观情绪中。“美国迎来了新的一天。”科罗拉多州众议员乔·内古塞说，民主党是“大帐篷政党”。
“I think this is a wonderful thing that we have right now, that we’re having a real discussion,” Booker said in an interview. “At a conference like this you’re seeing the future,” he added, returning to the party’s optimism. “A new day is dawning in America.”Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado said Democrats were “the big tent party.”
“我们拥有涵盖民主党思想几乎每个要素的意识形态光谱，”他在采访中说。“我认为这令人振奋。”
“We have an ideological spectrum that covers virtually every element of Democratic thought,” he said in an interview. “And I think that’s exciting.”