2015年11月考研必讀《經濟學人》節(jié)選：萊克星頓

　　Lexington

　　萊克星頓

　　How to win 99.6% of the vote

　　如何贏得99.6%的選票

　　Too many members of Congress are running unopposed

　　許多國會議員沒有競爭對手

　　DAYS before he seeks re-election to Congress for an eighth time, Representative Mike Capuano of Massachusetts has yet to order a single bumper sticker or“I Like Mike” lawn sign. That is not as risky as it might sound. In his district, a Democratic bastion that covers the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, chunks of Harvard University and swathes of blue-collar Boston, Mr Capuano faces no Republican opponent—or opposition of any kind. His is the only name that will appear on the ballot on November 4th.

　　在他第八次進行國會再選的前幾天，馬薩諸塞州的眾議員邁克·卡普阿諾打算購一款車尾貼，或者“我愛邁克”之類的草地競選標語。這并不像聽起來那么冒險。在這個地區(qū)，民主黨堡壘覆蓋了麻省理工學院、哈佛大學大片地區(qū)以及波士頓大部分的藍領階層，卡普阿諾沒有任何共和黨對手，也沒有任何反對派。他是唯一一個會出現(xiàn)在11 月4 日競選名單中的人。

　　This is no novelty for Mr Capuano. After he first won the seat in 1998, he never faced a Republican opponent again, often cruising to victory with such Cuban-style scores as 99.6% of the vote. Pondering past races, he struggles to recall details of the few independents who have challenged him. “I had a Communist, right?” he asks an aide. “A Socialist? Six years ago?Four?”

　　這對卡普阿諾來說并不奇怪。在他于1998 年首次贏得該席位后，他就再沒遇到共和黨對手了，并通常以古巴風格的得票—99.6%的選票立于不敗之地?；叵脒^去的競選，他幾乎快想不起來那少數(shù)幾個和他競選的獨立派的資料了?！坝袀€共產黨，是不是?還有個社會黨?六年前還是四年前來著?”他向一個副官問道。

　　Few others in Congress have been as safe for as long. But Mr Capuano has more company than before. Ever-fewer races for the House of Representatives are closely fought, leaving four-fifths of that body's 435 members with little to fear on polling day. Their doomed challengers—formerly stirred to action by a mix of idealism, ambition, vanity and (at times) self-delusion—seem at last to be noticing the odds against them. Add on the soaring costs of any election, and a growing number are quitting the field.

　　國會中很少有人能夠安全坐這么久的位子。但卡普阿諾擁有的同伴比之前更多了。眾議院中已經很少有非常激烈的競選了，使得這個團體435 名成員的五分之四在競選日都無需擔憂。他們命定的競爭者曾經抱著理想主義、野心、虛榮和(偶爾的)自欺欺人四處活動，但最后都會發(fā)現(xiàn)成功機會渺茫。再加上每場選舉高額的費用，越來越多的人退出了戰(zhàn)場。

　　In 2014 Republicans have put up no challenger in 37 House races, while Democrats are ceding 32 districts without a fight, according to David Wasserman of the Cook Political Report. A further eight House districts will see no contest between the main parties, thanks to a “top two” primary system used in Washington state and California, in which ordinary voters (rather than just party members) can pick the two candidates who compete for each seat in the general election—a move sold as a cure-all for partisan extremism, but which can turn safe districts into blue-on-blue and red-on-red fights. That total of 77 single-party House races is high by recent standards and marks a big jump since 2012, when there were 45 of them. Stephen Colbert, a comedian, once persuaded aFlorida congressman running unopposed to tell the camera that he liked cocaine and prostitutes,by arguing that it didn't matter what he said because he couldn't possibly lose.

　　據庫克政治報告的大衛(wèi)·沃瑟曼稱，2014 年共和黨在37 場眾議院競選中都沒有遇到對手，而民主黨毫不抵抗地放棄了32 個選區(qū)。在另外八個眾議院選區(qū)中，由于華盛頓州和加州使用了“兩大”主系統(tǒng)，這兩個州中普通選民(而不是只有黨派成員)可以選擇兩位候選人在大選中爭奪各自的席位，因此主要黨派之間都不會發(fā)生競爭。這項行動是解決黨派極端主義的良藥，但也會將安全區(qū)域變成黨派內部斗爭。據最近的標準來看，77 場單黨派眾議院競選數(shù)量很多，而2012 年只有45 場，這標志著自2012 年起的一次巨大飛躍。喜劇演員斯蒂芬·科爾伯特曾經勸說一名沒有遇到對手的佛羅里達國會議員在鏡頭前稱他喜歡可卡因和妓女，并爭辯說他說什么都沒關系，因為他不可能落選