丹佛讯——詹姆斯·塔拉里科站在数百名在此聚会、为民主党谋划新方向的党员面前，呼吁国会通过一项像林登·约翰逊“伟大社会”计划一样大胆的议程。
DENVER—James Talarico stood before hundreds of Democrats who gathered here to plot a new course for their party and called for Congress to pass an agenda as bold as Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society.
“我们拥有得克萨斯州般规模的授权，”塔拉里科说。他在该州参议院选举中爆冷获胜。周四的发言中，他列举了全民健康覆盖、全国禁止选区划分等政策主张。
“We have a mandate the size of Texas,” said Talarico, who won an upset victory in the state’s Senate race. He ticked off universal health coverage, a national ban on gerrymandering and other policy ambitions during his remarks Thursday.
但他和其他主张宏大提议的新当选议员面临着严峻现实。民主党新的众议院和参议院多数席位，建立在中间派候选人之上，这些候选人赢得了两年前还投给特朗普总统的众议院选区和州。这将使温和派成为下一届国会中最具影响力的力量，并可能成为该党最左翼倾向的制衡。
But he and other incoming lawmakers who campaigned on lofty proposals face a challenging reality. The Democrats’ new House and Senate majorities are built on centrist candidates who won House districts and states that only two years ago voted for President Trump. That will make moderates the most powerful force in the next Congress and a likely check on the party’s most left-wing impulses.
这些中间派正在寻求即时的、即便不那么颠覆性的政策胜利，以向帮助他们当选的摇摆选民和特朗普支持者表明，他们关注的是民生问题。
These centrists are looking for immediate, if less transformative, policy wins to show the swing voters and Trump supporters who helped elect them that they are focused on cost-of-living issues.
“我们可以有愿望清单，但需要确保我们专注于任务清单，也就是我们知道能够完成的事情，”当选众议员佩奇·科涅蒂说。她是宾夕法尼亚州斯克兰顿市市长，在2024年特朗普以超过8个百分点优势赢得的一个共和党持有的众议院选区中实现了翻转。
“We can have the wish list, but we need to make sure that we’re focused on a task list, that is, things we know we can deliver,” said Rep.-elect Paige Cognetti, the mayor of Scranton, Pa., who flipped a Republican-held House district that Trump had carried by more than 8 percentage points in 2024.
本周新老议员交谈中出现的统一目标包括：禁止众议院和参议院议员进行股票交易——这是对政府被认为存在自利行为的愤怒的回应——以及撤销特朗普和共和党领导的国会批准的对医疗补助和《平价医疗法案》补贴的削减。
The unifying goals that emerged in conversations among new and veteran lawmakers this past week include a ban on stock trading by House and Senate members—a response to anger over perceived self-dealing in government—and reversing cuts to Medicaid and Affordable Care Act subsidies that Trump and the Republican-led Congress approved.
在丹佛举行的会议上，提高联邦最低工资和一项便利劳工工会组织的法案也成为讨论中的首要任务。该会议由一个名为“多数民主党”的团体赞助，组织者称参会人数超过3500人。
A higher federal minimum wage and a bill to ease labor union organizing also arose as top priorities in discussions at the conference held in Denver, sponsored by a group called Majority Democrats, and which organizers said drew more than 3,500 people.
至少有55名民主党人在中期选举中赢得了特朗普两年前赢得的众议院选区，其中包括37名赢得目前由共和党人持有的席位的候选人。这是20年来，来自在上一届总统选举中支持共和党的选区的民主党人中规模最大的一个群体。他们将占下一届国会民主党人数的五分之一以上。
At least 55 Democrats won House districts in the midterms that Trump carried two years ago, including 37 who won seats now held by Republicans. It is the largest group in 20 years of Democrats from districts that backed the GOP in the prior presidential election. They will account for more than one in five Democrats in the next Congress.
该党意外赢得八个参议院席位，并有望在阿拉斯加最终计票完成后再赢得一个席位，这在很大程度上也归功于中间派候选人在特朗普赢得的州获胜。例如，塔拉里科承诺要与本党对抗，捍卫石油和天然气行业的就业，并且他没有支持取代私人保险的全民医保制度，这是进步派的首要优先事项。
The party’s unexpected gain of eight Senate seats, with hopes of picking up a ninth seat once the tally is final in Alaska, also rests in large part on centrist candidates winning in states Trump carried. Talarico, for example, promised to stand up to his party to defend oil-and gas industry jobs, and he didn’t endorse a Medicare for All system that replaces private insurance, a top progressive priority.
已经，该党内许多人都在思考如何保住他们赢得的政治阵地，并表示，民主党在下一次选举中不能指望特朗普引发与今年损害共和党候选人相同的选民愤怒。
Already, many in the party are thinking about how to retain the political real estate they have won, saying that Democrats in the next election can’t count on Trump to generate the same voter anger that hurt GOP candidates this year.
众议员汤姆·苏奥齐（民主党-纽约州）在2024年以大约4个百分点的优势赢得特朗普携带的选区后连任，他表示，翻转共和党众议院选区的绝大多数民主党人都是中间派，他们将在2028年面临竞争激烈的选举。他警告该党不要采纳进步派的政策目标，例如要求废除美国移民与海关执法局（简称ICE）的呼吁。
Rep. Tom Suozzi (D., N.Y.), who won re-election in a district that Trump carried by about 4 points in 2024, said the overwhelming majority of Democrats who flipped Republican House districts were centrists who would face competitive races in 2028. He cautioned the party against picking up progressive policy goals, such as the call to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE.
“这是政治史上最愚蠢的话之一，”他说。“紧随其后的就是‘削减警察经费’。”他还认为全民医保是扩大医疗保险覆盖范围的错误方法。“目标是崇高的目标，但在政治上不会实现，”他说。
“Those are some of the stupidest words ever in the history of politics,” he said. “Right after, ‘defund the police.’”He also saw Medicare for All as the wrong approach to expanding health coverage. “The objective is a noble objective, but it’s not going to happen politically,” he said.
中间派力量的一个迹象来自新民主党联盟，这是该党在众议院的温和派党团。该组织表示，明年将拥有142名成员，而目前为114名，这意味着它将包括超过一半的所有民主党众议院议员，并在立法方面成为一股强大的声音。
One sign of the power of centrists comes from the New Democrat Coalition, the party’s moderate caucus in the House. The group says it will have 142 members next year, up from 114 now, meaning it will include more than half of all Democratic House members and will be a formidable voice on legislation.
“我们是多数派的缔造者，”该团体的新领导人、伊利诺伊州民主党众议员妮基·布津斯基（Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D.-Ill.）说。“我们是那些在红州和摇摆州参选的民主党人，我们获胜，并且专注于符合美国大多数中间人群诉求的政策。”
“We’re the majority-makers,” said Rep. Nikki Budzinski (D., Ill.), the group’s new leader. “We’re the Democrats who run in red areas and purple areas, and we win, and we stay focused on policy that speaks to most people in America, who are in the middle.”
左翼的国会进步党团表示，它将新增25名成员，其中几人也加入了中间派或保守派党团。该党团将拥有超过100名议员，其中包括几名自称民主社会主义者的人。
The left-wing Congressional Progressive Caucus says it is gaining 25 new members, several of whom also joined centrist or conservative caucuses. It will include more than 100 lawmakers, including several who call themselves Democratic socialists.
大多数新成员来自稳固的民主党社区，但约有六人赢得了特朗普在2024年赢得的选区。其中包括加州大学教授兰迪·维尔加斯（Randy Villegas），他在特朗普以2个百分点获胜的加州选区中获得了68%的选票。
Most of the new members are from solidly Democratic communities, but about six won districts Trump carried in 2024. They include Randy Villegas, a college professor who won 68% of the vote in a California district Trump carried by 2 points.
“我们在我的选举中证明，进步民粹主义纲领可以获胜，不仅在稳固的蓝色选区，而且在全国各地的摇摆选区都能获胜，”维尔加斯本月在一次进步党团活动上表示。
“What we have proven in my election is that you can win with a progressive populist platform, not just in safe blue seats but in swing districts anywhere across this country,” Villegas said at a progressive caucus event this month.
进步党团的其他新成员表示，他们将推动一系列新的和增强的社会项目。“我们现在的体系是为精英和富人操纵的，”马萨诸塞州新当选的丹尼尔·科（Daniel Koh）说，他来自一个民主党占绝对优势的选区。他承诺通过对企业和高收入者增税来“让体系恢复公平”。
Other incoming members of the progressive caucus said they would push for a range of new and enhanced social programs. “We have a system right now that is rigged for the elite and the wealthy,” said Daniel Koh, newly elected in a heavily Democratic district in Massachusetts. He promised to “unrig the system” by raising taxes on corporations and high-income earners.
“这意味着拿走那些钱，确保我们限制人们的房租，限制他们的公用事业账单，提供免费托儿服务，恢复儿童税收抵免，最后，通过全民医保，”他说。科赢得了一个特朗普输掉20个百分点的选区。
“It means taking that money and making sure that we cap people’s rent, cap their utility bills, free child care, reinstituting the child tax credit, and, finally, passing Medicare for All,” he said. Koh carried a district that Trump lost by 20 points.
来自政治环境更为流动的选区的议员表示，他们对最雄心勃勃的进步目标持谨慎态度，例如全民医保。
Lawmakers from more politically fluid districts say they are wary of the most ambitious progressive goals, such as Medicare for All.
“医疗保健行业占美国经济很大比重，因此对医疗体系做任何改变都需要谦卑，否则可能会让情况变得更糟，”北卡罗来纳州农民杰米·阿格说，他在特朗普以大约10个百分点优势获胜的选区中轻松获胜。
“The healthcare industry is a huge portion of the American economy, and so changing anything with our healthcare system is something we need to be humble about, or we can make it worse,” said Jamie Ager, a North Carolina farmer who won handily in a district that Trump had carried by about 10 points.
科罗拉多州两度参选国会议员、现与中间派组织“欢迎政治行动委员会”合作的亚当·弗里施表示，在特朗普倾向的选区中，如果民主党候选人以不到3个或4个百分点的优势获胜，可能不想在华盛顿安顿下来。
Adam Frisch, a two-time Colorado congressional candidate now working with the centrist group Welcome PAC, said that Democrats in Trump-leaning districts might not want to unpack their bags in Washington if they won their races by less than 3 or 4 percentage points.
“未来两年我们将进行一场实验，看看哪种民主党人能守住自己的席位，而不是暂时租用，”他说。“我会非常谨慎，确保你的经济政策位于选区的中心，而不是党派的中心。”
“We’re going to have an experiment over the next two years to see what flavors of Democrats are able to own their seats, rather than rent them,” he said. “I’d be very careful to be sure that your economic policies are in the center of your district, not the center of your party.”