Democrats Have Two Paths for 2020
Au lendemain des élections de mi-mandat, les démocrates affinent leur stratégie pour 2020.
Aux États-Unis, c’est sans surprise que les démocrates ont regagné le contrôle de la Chambre des représentants lors des élections de mi-mandat de novembre. Ils ont maintenant les yeux fixés sur l’élection présidentielle de 2020. Mais, s’ils essaient de tirer les leçons des résultats des midterms, leurs avis divergent quant à la stratégie à adopter pour 2020...
Washington — For Democrats, the victories, near wins and stinging losses in the latest midterms have intensified a debate in the party about how to retake the White House, with moderates arguing they must find a candidate who can appeal to President Donald Trump’s supporters and historically Republican suburbanites, and progressives claiming they need someone with the raw authenticity to electrify the grassroots.
2. Rather than clarifying which strategy to adopt for 2020, the patchwork of outcomes has only deepened the disagreements. Both wings of the party are now wielding fresh evidence
1. near proche, quasi / stinging cinglant / latest dernier (en date) / midterms = midterm elections élections de mi-mandat / to appeal to plaire à, séduire (fig.) / suburbanite banlieusard, personne habitant dans un quartier résidentiel d'une ville / progressive progressiste / to claim affirmer / raw à l’état brut, authentique / to electrify électriser, galvaniser / grassroots (ici, électeurs de la) base. 2. rather than plutôt que (de) / patchwork variété, différentes possibilités / outcome résultat, dénouement / to deepen approfondir, renforcer / disagreement désaccord, différend / both les deux / wing aile; ici, branche, tendance / to wield ici, user de / fresh nouveau, récent / evidence (inv.) preuves, résultats / from the midterm results to make their case about the best path to assemble 270 electoral votes and oust Trump from office.
INTERNAL TENSIONS
3. The schism reflects the party’s long-standing internecine tensions, which flared again this year when insurgents on the left challenged establishment-aligned candidates while voicing urgent calls for change and a more confrontational approach to the president. And it raises questions about whether Democrats can deliver a consistent message to voters and unite behind one nominee from a slate of candidates who could range from socialists to pragmatic centrists.
4. “We need a candidate who has the ability to mobilize the entirety of the base, people of color,
to make, made, made one's case faire valoir ses arguments / path ici, moyen / to assemble rassembler; ici, réunir / to oust évincer, chasser (du pouvoir) / office ici, fonctions (présidence). 3. long-standing de longue date, qui existe depuis longtemps / internecine intestin / to flare again être ravivé / insurgent insurgé / establishment-aligned aux idées proches de celles des cadres du parti / while ici, tout en / to voice exprimer / to raise ici, soulever (fig.) / whether (quant à savoir) si (oui ou non) / to deliver livrer, offrir / consistent cohérent / nominee candidat (to nominate nommer, désigner, élire) / slate ici, palette, liste / to range from... to aller de... à. 4. ability capacité, potentiel / millennials and also folks in the suburbs,” said Adrianne Shropshire, who runs BlackPAC, an African-American political organizing group.
millennials génération du millénaire (enfants nés entre les années 1980 et le début des années 2000), également appelée génération Y / folks gens, population / to run, ran, run ici, présider.
“I don’t think the country is looking for rock stars.”
POTENTIAL CANDIDATES
5. Already auditioning for that role is an eclectic group of ambitious Democrats, including three senators who appear all but certain to run: Kamala Harris of California, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory Booker of New Jersey. All three have moved well past the point of simply weighing a candidacy, and are assembling the infrastructure for a campaign as they prepare to make final decisions.
6. Two potentially formidable entrants, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles acknowledged [last month] that they are considering campaigns. And Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana was in New York in the days after the election meeting with wealthy party donors, introducing himself as a dark horse from a red state with the ability to reach out to rural America.
PRIORITIES
7. Bullock is not alone in viewing rural outreach as a priority. Pragmatic Democrats hold up the party’s defeat in the Ohio governor’s race and red-state Senate races — and a handful of closer-than-expected Senate victories in the Midwest — to argue that Democrats must get serious about devising a message that can appeal to rural, largely white voters. They point 5. to audition se présenter (ici, comme candidat) / to appear ici, sembler / all but certain quasiment certain / to run, ran , run ici, être candidat, se présenter (élection) / to move past the point of franchir l'étape de / to weigh ici, envisager / candidacy candidature, campagne / infrastructure plan d'action, programme / as ici, alors que. 6. formidable redoutable / entrant ici, candidat / mayor maire / to acknowledge reconnaître (officiellement) / to consider envisager / wealthy riche / donor donateur / to introduce oneself se présenter / dark horse candidat surprise / red ici, républicain / to reach out to toucher, séduire (fig.). 7. to view considérer / to hold, held, held up ici, prendre pour (mauvais) exemple / race course, élection / a handful of une poignée de; ici, quelques / closer-thanexpected plus serré qu'anticipé/attendu / (the) Midwest région du nord des États-Unis allant de l'Ohio aux Rocheuses / to get, got, got serious about prendre au sérieux / to devise imaginer / largely en grande partie/majorité / as well to the middle-of-the-road ideology of many of the Democrats who prevailed in difficult congressional races. While numerous young people, women and minority candidates were elected to the House, few advocated far-left policy ideas.
8. “People need to realize my problem wasn’t getting Democrats to vote for me,” said Sen. Claire McCaskill, who was defeated in Missouri. “I hope that no one thinks that because some of the red-state Democrat moderates lost that means we have to nominate a progressive.” The more sensible answer, McCaskill said, would be to find Trump’s political and stylistic opposite, perhaps “even a boring candidate.” She mentioned a handful of little-known senators and governors who exude vanilla.
THE O’ROURKE CASE
9. But liberals in the party point to the performance of O’Rourke, who eschewed the traditional rules for running as a Texas Democrat and campaigned as a freewheeling, unapologetic progressive. Having raised more than $69 million and come within 3 points of defeating Cruz, O’Rourke and some of his top advisers called allies last month, feeling them out about what he should do next.
10. But while O’Rourke has quickly become a beloved figure among many grassroots activ- to point to souligner (fig.) / as well également / middle-of-the-road modéré / to prevail ici, l'emporter, gagner / to advocate prôner / far-left d'extrême gauche / policy politique (ligne d'action). 8. to get, got, got ici, faire en sorte que, convaincre / sensible sensé, raisonnable / even même / boring ennuyeux / to exude respirer (fig.) / vanilla ici, conventionalité. 9. to eschew esquiver, ignorer / rule règle / to campaign faire/mener campagne / freewheeling libre; ici, non conventionnel / unapologetic assumé / to raise lever (fonds), réunir / to come, came, come within être à / top meilleur / adviser conseiller / to feel, felt, felt sb out about sth demander l'avis de qn au sujet de qch. 10. beloved très apprécié / figure personnalité, personne / among parmi, chez, auprès de / activist militant / ists, some elders in the party argue that Democrats should be careful about swooning too soon. “We’re always looking for rock stars but I don’t think the country is looking for rock stars,” said Tom Vilsack, the former governor of Iowa and agriculture secretary for President Barack Obama. Asked specifically about O’Rourke, Vilsack suggested it would be odd to nominate a candidate who was just defeated. “It’s probably a good idea to win the first race you were interested in,” he said, adding, tonguein-cheek, “Maybe he’s the new Abe Lincoln, you lose a race and then run for president and win.”
BEST-KNOWN FIGURES
11. Perhaps the two best-known figures in the 2020 field, Joe Biden, the former vice president, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, have indicated they are still deciding whether to run. Biden has consistently said he would make up his mind by the end of the year, though some supporters fear that deadline could slip. Biden’s advisers see him as a natural fit for a presidential race that hinges on Midwestern swing states where he has long been popular. But Biden, 75, has also stressed that he is concerned about the impact of a campaign on his family.
12. For many in the party, though, the question at hand is not whether to veer toward Sandersstyle liberalism or pivot back to careful moderation — it’s how to find a nominee, of whatever ideological bearing, who can tangle with a ruthless adversary like Trump. elders doyens / to be careful about se méfier/ici, se garder de / to swoon ici, se réjouir / former ancien / odd étrange / tongue-in-cheek (sur un ton) ironique. 11. field ici, (liste de) candidats / consistently régulièrement / to make, made, made up one's mind se décider, prendre sa décision / by ici, d'ici (à) / though bien que / to fear craindre / deadline échéance / to slip ici, être dépassé / to see, saw, seen ici, considérer / a natural fit ici, le candidat idéal / to hinge on ici, dépendre de / swing state État indécis (qui peut basculer dans un camp ou un autre; les "swing states" sont souvent la clé de la victoire à l'élection présidentielle) / long depuis longtemps / to stress souligner, indiquer, préciser / to be concerned about être soucieux de. 12. at hand ici, actuel / to veer toward virer à, se tourner vers; ici, adopter / to pivot back to retourner à, se tourner à nouveau vers; ici, adopter à nouveau / careful précautionneux / bearing ici, tendance / to tangle with ici, se présenter/être candidat contre, être opposé à / ruthless impitoyable.