He’s not on the ballot, but his ego is
Everywhere he goes on the campaign trail, Trump is telling Republican voters to “pretend I’m on the ballot.”
在竞选过程中，无论走到哪里，特朗普都会告诉共和党选民“假装我在选票上”。
He’s not, of course, but his approval rating is so low that telling voters to “pretend” he’s on the ballot is backfiring big-time.
当然，他不是，但他的支持率是如此之低，以至于告诉选民“假装”他在选票上会适得其反。
Which is why so many Republican candidates are trying to distance themselves from him.
这就是为什么如此多的共和党候选人试图与他保持距离。
They’re not mentioning his name.
他们没有提到他的名字。
They’re not talking about his policies.
他们不是在谈论他的政策。
They avoid the word “MAGA.” A dozen have removed his name, image, or endorsements from their campaign websites.
他们避免使用“MAGA”这个词。十几个人已经从他们的竞选网站上删除了他的名字、图像或代言。
They don’t want to appear with him.
他们不想和他一起出现。
When Mike Schrimpf, a spokesman for John Sununu’s Senate campaign, was asked why Trump isn’t campaigning with Sununu, Schrimpf limply explained,“John’s focus the entire campaign has been on New Hampshire, and [he] doesn’t plan to campaign with anyone from outside New Hampshire.” Maine’s Republican Sen.
当约翰·苏努努参议院竞选活动的发言人迈克·施里普夫被问及为什么特朗普不与苏努努一起竞选时，施里普夫含糊地解释道，“约翰整个竞选活动的重点都在新罕布什尔州，[他]不打算与新罕布什尔州以外的任何人一起竞选。”缅因州共和党参议员。
Susan Collins told The New York Times she has no plans to campaign with Trump.
苏珊·柯林斯告诉《纽约时报》，她没有计划与特朗普一起竞选。
Several prominent Republican candidates are openly criticizing Trump.
几位著名的共和党候选人公开批评特朗普。
Michigan’s Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers released a direct-to-camera ad that takes on Trump’s trade war with Canada.
密歇根州共和党参议院候选人迈克·罗杰斯发布了一则直接对着镜头的广告，内容涉及特朗普与加拿大的贸易战。
“Here in Michigan, we know that Canada is not our enemy,” Rogers says , holding a can of the Canadian-brewed beer Labatt.
“在密歇根州，我们知道加拿大不是我们的敌人，”罗杰斯拿着一罐加拿大酿造的拉巴特啤酒说道。
“We need to end this tariff war — now.”
“我们需要立即结束这场关税战。”
Yet Democrats in key battleground states aren’t letting their Republican opponents get away with distancing themselves from Trump.
然而，关键战场州的民主党人并没有让共和党对手与特朗普保持距离。
At last week’s Senate debate in Maine, Troy Jackson accused Susan Collins of failing to oppose Trump’s war in Iran and his tariffs.
上周在缅因州举行的参议院辩论中，特洛伊·杰克逊指责苏珊·柯林斯未能反对特朗普对伊朗的战争和关税。
“We are in a crisis now because she wouldn’t stand up to Trump.”
“我们现在正处于危机之中，因为她不愿反抗特朗普。”
In last week’s Georgia debate, Jon Ossoff tied his Republican challenger, Rep.
在上周的佐治亚州辩论中，乔恩·奥索夫 (Jon Ossoff) 与他的共和党挑战者、众议员并列。
Michael Collins, to Trump — charging that “Whatever Donald Trump says, Mike Collins does” and at one point even calling Trump’s tariffs the “Mike Collins Donald Trump tariffs.”
迈克尔·柯林斯（Michael Collins）对特朗普指责“无论唐纳德·特朗普说什么，迈克·柯林斯都会做什么”，甚至一度将特朗普的关税称为“迈克·柯林斯·唐纳德·特朗普关税”。
In last week’s Michigan debate, Democrat Dr. Abdul El-Sayed accused his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers, of being a “sock puppet” for Trump.
在上周的密歇根州辩论中，民主党人阿卜杜勒·赛义德博士指责他的共和党对手迈克·罗杰斯是特朗普的“傀儡”。
The more voters “pretend” Trump is on the ballot, the better for Democrats.
越多选民“假装”特朗普在选票上，对民主党来说就越好。
Yet I doubt Trump cares.
但我怀疑特朗普是否在乎。
He isn’t really campaigning for Republicans anyway.
无论如何，他并不是真正为共和党竞选。
He’s campaigning for himself.
他正在为自己竞选。
His “midterm convention” in Dallas at the start of September — invented by Trump to kick off the campaign season — was little more than a pep rally to glorify himself.
九月初，他在达拉斯举行的“中期大会”——由特朗普发明，旨在拉开竞选季——只不过是一次为自己美化的动员集会。
His photographs covered the walls of the arena where the Dallas Mavericks play.
他的照片覆盖了达拉斯小牛队比赛场地的墙壁。
His face was even plastered on coffee cups, in elevators, over mirrors in lavatories.
他的脸甚至贴在咖啡杯上、电梯里、厕所的镜子上。
His endorsements of Republican candidates have been laced with self-absorption.
他对共和党候选人的支持充满了自我陶醉。
When asking South Carolinians to vote for Darline Graham for the Senate, for example, he recounted that his “dear friend Lindsey” always told him Darline was the finest, most reliable, smartest, and most loyal person he had ever known.
例如，当要求南卡罗来纳州民众投票支持达林·格雷厄姆竞选参议员时，他回忆道，他的“亲爱的朋友林赛”总是告诉他，达林是他所认识的最优秀、最可靠、最聪明和最忠诚的人。
Then Trump said (cue Trump’s ego): “I would be upset with Lindsey for saying this, because I thought I had all of those qualities.”
然后特朗普说（暗示特朗普的自负）：“我会对林赛这么说感到不安，因为我认为我拥有所有这些品质。”
When Trump appears on the road with Republican candidates who still want to be seen with him, he talks mostly about himself — explaining, for example, why he takes large doses of aspirin daily (he says he “psychologically” needs it); claiming that he has one of the highest IQs “anywhere in the world”; warning that if Democrats take over Congress he’ll be impeached; blaming his lousy polls on “an extremely poor job of promotion,” complaining that his hair is thinning; and railing at the media for not reporting the “huge crowds I’m attracting” to “my” rallies.
当特朗普与仍希望与他在一起的共和党候选人出现在路上时，他主要谈论自己——例如，解释为什么他每天服用大剂量的阿司匹林（他说他“心理上”需要它）；声称自己是“世界上任何地方”智商最高的人之一；警告说，如果民主党接管国会，他将被弹劾；将他糟糕的民意调查归咎于“极其糟糕的晋升工作”，并抱怨他的头发正在稀疏；并指责媒体没有报道“我吸引的大量人群”参加“我的”集会。
He barely mentions the Republican candidates.
他几乎没有提到共和党候选人。
He doesn’t even talk about America as a whole.
他甚至没有谈论整个美国。
Instead, he praises Americans who support him and criticizes Americans who oppose him — such as those in Los Angeles and San Diego, whom he invited Iran to nuke.
相反，他赞扬支持他的美国人，批评反对他的美国人——比如他邀请伊朗对洛杉矶和圣地亚哥进行核打击的美国人。
He discounts polls showing a blue wave as “fake” because, he insists, the polls haven’t factored in his campaign appearances.
他认为民意调查显示蓝色浪潮是“假的”，因为他坚称民意调查没有考虑到他的竞选露面。
“They don’t account for the fact that Trump is out campaigning,” he says .
“他们没有考虑到特朗普外出竞选的事实，”他说。
“MY RALLIES ARE SAVING THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, AGAIN!!!”
“我的集会再次拯救了共和党！！！”
He’s been deaf to bipartisan concerns over his use of millions of taxpayer dollars to run ads boosting himself — finally conceding last week that he’ll pay for them out of his MAGA, Inc. PAC but won’t commit to reimbursing the public for the cost of the ads he’s already run.
他对两党对他使用数百万纳税人的钱来投放广告来宣传自己的担忧充耳不闻——最终上周承认，他将从他的 MAGA, Inc. PAC 中支付这些费用，但不会承诺向公众补偿他已经投放的广告费用。
Will Republicans blame him if the GOP loses Congress?
如果共和党失去国会，共和党人会责怪他吗？
More than 30 percent of non-MAGA voters who backed Trump in 2024 say they will blame him for any loss.
超过 30% 在 2024 年支持特朗普的非 MAGA 选民表示，他们会将任何损失归咎于他。
(Half of Democratic midterm voters say they’ll attribute the loss to Trump, and 46 percent of Democratic voters say they’re casting ballots mainly to oppose Trump.)
（一半的民主党中期选民表示，他们将失败归咎于特朗普，46% 的民主党选民表示，他们投票主要是为了反对特朗普。）
But I don’t think he gives a fig. Trump isn’t out campaigning for Republican candidates.
但我认为他根本不在乎。特朗普并没有为共和党候选人竞选。
He’s campaigning for his boundless ego.
他正在为他无限的自我而奋斗。
His rallies are delivering to him what he craves more than anything else: audiences that worship him.
他的集会为他带来了他最渴望的东西：崇拜他的观众。
Although the crowds are far smaller than before, he’s still basking in their adoration.
尽管人群比以前少了很多，但他仍然沉浸在他们的崇拜之中。
After every individual on the ballot running for office from the Republican party-In parentheses- is the name of Donald Trump.
在每个参加共和党竞选公职的选票上的人后面（括号内）都是唐纳德·特朗普的名字。
We will vote accordingly---
我们将相应地投票——
Republicans need to do more than just avoid Trump.
共和党人需要做的不仅仅是避开特朗普。
They need to impeach him.
他们需要弹劾他。