评论
打印
Franklin D. Roosevelt and other Democrats are swept into power,
接着，富兰克林·D·罗斯福等民主党人走上政治舞台，
and begin dramatically expanding the size and role of the federal government,
为了与大萧条抗衡，改善美国民众的生活现状，
in an attempt to fight the Depression and better provide for Americans.
他们走上了迅速扩张联邦政府的规模和权力的道路。
Republicans oppose this rapid expansion,
共和党人对此则持反对态度，
defining themselves as opposition to big government, an identity that the party still holds today.
因为他们对自己党派的定位是反对大政府的党派，时至今日，他们依然保持着这一定位。
Going into the 50s and 60s, race and the South return to the forefront of national politics,
接下来就到了五六十年代，种族问题和南方问题重新回到了国家政治的风口浪尖，
with the civil rights movement attempting to end segregation and ensure blacks truly had the right to vote.
民权运动试图终结种族隔离这一现状，确保黑人真正拥有投票权。
The civil rights isn't purely a partisan issue, it's more of a regional issue,
然而，民权问题也不纯粹是一个党派问题，它更多的是一个地区问题，
with northerners from both parties supporting it and southerners from both parties opposing it.
因为北方的民主党人和共和党人都是支持民权运动，而南方的民主党人和共和党人都反对民权运动。
Then 1964, it's Democratic president Lyndon Johnson who signs the Civil Rights Act into law.
到了1964年，民主党总统林登·约翰逊签署《民权法案》，民权自此有了法律保障。
And it's Republican presidential nominee Barry Goldwater who opposes it, arguing that it expands government power too much.
共和党总统候选人巴里·戈德华特则对该法案持反对态度，声称该法案过于放大政府的权力。
A massive switch-up takes place.
接着，一场大规模的洗牌发生了。
Black voters, some of whom had already been shifting from the Republican Party,
黑人选民，其中一些人当时就已经脱离共和党，
convert almost entirely to their new advocates, the Democrats.
彻底转向了他们的新主张：民主党。
The white voters in the South, who had been staunch Democrats,
南方的白人选民原本都是民主党的坚定拥护者，
start to really resent "big government" interference here and in other matters, like abortion rights and school prayer.
然而，“大政府”在这一问题，以及堕胎权和学校祈祷等其他问题上的指手画脚逐渐引起了他们的强烈反感。
Over the next three decades, whites in the South switch to the GOP,
接下来的三十年里，他们陆续转向共和党，
which makes the South an overwhelmingly Republican region.
南方自此成了共和党的天下。
By the 80s, the party begins to resemble the GOP we are familiar with today.
到了80年代，该党的面貌就逐渐接近我们今天熟悉的共和党的面貌了。
Republicans elect Ronald Reagan, who promises to fight for business interests, lower taxes, and traditional family values.
接着，共和党人选举了承诺为企业界谋利、降低税收、捍卫传统家庭价值观的罗纳德·里根当总统。
As the 21st century begins,
21世纪伊始，
America is going through a major demographic shift in the form of Hispanic immigration, both legal and illegal.
美国经历了一次重大的人口结构转变，推动这一转变的则是拉美裔移民，合法的、非法的都有。
Democrats and business elites tend to support reforming immigration laws
民主党和商界精英大多支持改革移民法，
so that the over 10 million unauthorized immigrants in the US would get legal status.
改革后，美国的1000多万非法移民就能获得合法身份。
On the Republican side, "tough on immigration" policies and rhetoric become popular.
而在共和党一边，逐渐流行的则是“对待移民要强硬”的政策及言辞。
But this ends up causing the Republicans when in 2012 Mitt Romney loses his bid for the presidency,
这一态度并未给共和党人带来好的结局：2012年，米特·罗姆尼竞选总统失败了，
he gets blown out among Hispanic voters — exit polls showed that 71% of them voted Barack Obama.
他在拉美裔选民投票中的表现一败涂地——出口民调显示，71%的拉美裔选民都将票投给了奥巴马。
So the Republican Party starts to look more like a party for white voters in an increasingly non-white country.
在这个有色人种越来越多的国家，共和党更像是一个专属于白人选民的政党。
Given demographic trends, Republican leaders worry that if they keep losing Hispanic voters by that much,
考虑到人口结构变化的大潮，共和党领导人开始担心，如果他们继续这样大批大批地失去拉美裔选民，
they'll lose their chances of winning the presidency.
他们势必会失去赢得总统大选的机会。
So in 2013, some key Republicans in the Senate — including rising star Marco Rubio —
于是，2013年，在改革移民法案，为擅自入境人群提供获得合法身份的途径时，
collaborate with Democrats on an immigration reform bill that would give unauthorized immigrants a path to legal status.
参议院的核心共和党人——后起之秀马尔科·卢比奥也在其中——选择了与民主党合作。
But there's a huge backlash from the Republican party's predominantly white base,
不过，他们的这一决定引起了白人居多的共和党基层选民的强烈反对，
which views the bill as "amnesty" for immigrants who broke the rules.
后者认为，该法案无异于给不守规矩的移民颁布了一道“特赦令”。
This exacerbates the GOP voters' mistrust of their own party's leaders,
此事进一步加剧了共和党选民对该党领导层的不信任，
a mistrust that had already been growing for some time.
其实，在那之前，这种不信任就已经萌芽一段时间了。
And that makes the political landscape of 2015 a fertile ground for a figure like Donald Trump,
在这样的背景下，2015年的政治局势成了特朗普之流顺势而上的绝佳时机，
an outsider businessman who wants to build a wall on the border with Mexico.
因为出生商海，身在政治圈之外的他自己就希望在美墨边境筑起一道隔离墙。
Trump isn't a traditional conservative,
特朗普并非传统的保守派，
but he appealed to the resentment and mistrust of party leaders that Republican primary voters had,
但他迎合了共和党初选选民对共和党领导层的不满和不信任，
as well as their strong opposition to growing immigration trends.
以及他们对日益壮大的移民大潮的强烈反对。
And even though he was loathed by party leaders,
所以，即便党内领导层对他十分厌恶，
he won enough support in the primaries to become the GOP nominee for president.
他还是在初选阶段赢得了足够的支持，成功当选为共和党一方的总统候选人。
So now, the Republican party is once again at a major crossroads as it tries to meet the political challenges of the 21st century.
如今，努力迎接21世纪的政治挑战的共和党再次面临重大抉择。
It's up to Republican voters and leaders to decide just what they want their party to be.
至于何去何从，就看共和党的选民和他们的领导层他们自己怎么选了。
