Behind him was the Speaker of the House, a Democrat.

他的身後是眾議院議長，一個民主黨人。

And in the audience was the Senate majority leader — also a Democrat.

而在場的是參議院多數黨領袖--也是民主黨人。

Which meant that when Obama said this:

也就是說，當奧巴馬說這句話的時候。

Health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait

醫改不能等，一定不能等

and it will not wait another year.

而且不會再等一年。

He wasn't kidding.

他不是在開玩笑。

The next year, his health care bill was passed in both Houses of Congress and became law,

第二年，他的醫保法案在國會兩院獲得通過，成為法律。

even though every single Republican voted against it.

儘管每個共和黨人都投了反對票。

But later that year, Republicans won back the majority in the House.

但當年晚些時候，共和黨贏回了眾議院的多數席位。

For the rest of his presidency, Obama never again passed a major piece of legislation.

在餘下的總統任期內，奧巴馬再也沒有通過一項重大立法。

Then, Donald Trump became president,

然後，唐納德-特朗普成為總統。

with a Republican House and a Republican Senate.

由共和黨參眾兩院組成。

They passed his tax bill.

他們通過了他的稅收法案。

No Democrats voted for it.

沒有民主黨人投票支持。

But in the next election, Democrats won control of the House.

但在下一次選舉中，民主黨贏得了眾議院的控制權。

And that was the end of Trump's legislative agenda.

而特朗普的立法議程也到此為止。

Now, Joe Biden is about to start his presidency,

現在，喬-拜登即將開始他的總統任期。

with a House controlled by Democrats--

與眾議院由民主黨人控制 -

But we still don't know who will control the Senate.

但我們仍然不知道誰會控制參議院。

Of the Senate's 100 seats, we know Republicans will have 50 and Democrats will have 48.

在參議院的100個席位中，我們知道共和黨將有50個，民主黨將有48個。

But these — we don't know yet.

但這些--我們還不知道。

These are the last two races of the 2020 election.

這是2020年選舉的最後兩場比賽。

And they'll decide if the new president's agenda will be ambitious, or compromised.

他們將決定新總統的議程是雄心勃勃，還是妥協。

And they're both happening in the same place:

而且它們都發生在同一個地方。

"Georgia, Georgia, Georgia."

"喬治亞，喬治亞，喬治亞"

"At stake: control of the US Senate."

"危在旦夕：美國參議院的控制權。"

"Two Senate runoff races that are now the center of the political world."

"兩場參議院第二輪選舉，現在是政治世界的中心。"

In nearly every US state, elections are won by the candidate with the most votes.

幾乎在美國每個州，選舉都是由得票最多的候選人獲勝。

But in the state of Georgia, most candidates need to reach at least 50% of votes to win:

但在喬治亞州，大多數候選人需要達到至少50%的選票才能獲勝。

A true majority.

一個真正的大多數。

When that doesn't happen in Georgia, the top two candidates move on to a second election:

當這種情況在喬治亞州沒有發生時，前兩名候選人就會進入第二次選舉。

a "runoff." And everyone votes all over again.

"第二輪投票"。然後大家重新投票。

That's what happened in November.

這就是11月發生的事情。

Republican Senator David Perdue got the most votes in his reelection race.

共和黨參議員戴維-珀杜在連任競選中獲得最多票數。

But he missed that 50% mark by just a few thousand votes.

但他只差了幾千票就錯過了50%的大關。

So he and the Democrat, Jon Ossoff, will compete in a runoff election on January 5th.

所以他和民主黨人喬恩-奧索夫將在1月5日的第二輪選舉中競爭。

What's extremely unusual, though, is that there were two Senate races in the same state

但極不尋常的是，在同一個州有兩場參議院選舉。

in the same year.

在同一年，。

The other was a special election, to fill the seat of a senator who retired early

另一個是特別選舉，以填補一位提前退休的參議員的席位。

due to bad health.

由於身體不好。

In this race, several Republicans and several Democrats ran.

在這場比賽中，幾位共和黨人和幾位民主黨人參選。

And no one got close to 50%.

而且沒有人接近50%。

So the top two candidates — Republican Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Raphael Warnock —

所以前兩名候選人--共和黨人凱利-勒夫勒和民主黨人拉斐爾-沃諾克--。

now go to the runoff.

現在去參加第二輪選舉。

In the US, runoff elections are most common in the South,

在美國，第二輪選舉在南方最為常見。

an area with a long history of white politicians suppressing the votes of Black Americans.

一個有著長期白人政客壓制美國黑人選票歷史的地區。

And during the Civil Rights movement, runoff elections became one of the tools to do that.

而在民權運動期間，第二輪選舉成為其中的一個工具。

In 1963, a white Georgia politician named Denmark Groover proposed the runoff system

1963年，佐治亞州一位名叫丹麥-格羅弗的白人政治家提出了徑流制。

after he lost an election to what he called “Negro bloc voting.”

他在選舉中輸給了他所謂的 "黑人集團投票"。

He argued that when a Black candidate runs against many white candidates,

他認為，當一個黑人候選人與許多白人候選人競選。

the Black candidate would get a “bloc” of Black voter support,

黑人候選人將獲得黑人選民的 "集團 "支持。

while white support would be spread out.

而白人的支持會分散開來。

But if you made the Black candidate run against just one white candidate,

但如果你讓黑人候選人只和一個白人候選人競爭，

knowing that lots of white voters wouldn't vote for a Black candidate,

知道很多白人選民不會投票給黑人候選人。

the white candidate would have a better chance at winning.

白人候選人將有一個更好的機會 贏得。

Years later, Groover was open about the fact that his plan was racially motivated.

多年後，格羅弗公開了他的計劃是出於種族動機的事實。

But Georgia adopted it.

但格魯吉亞採用了。

In 1990, the federal Justice Department sued Georgia over their runoff system.

1990年，聯邦司法部起訴佐治亞州的徑流系統。

They argued it had a “demonstrably chilling effect on the ability of Blacks to become candidates."

他們認為，這 "對黑人成為候選人的能力產生了明顯的寒蟬效應"。

But the suit failed. And Georgia still does it this way.

但訴訟失敗了。而佐治亞州仍然這樣做。

This year's special Senate race features exactly the kind of matchup

今年的參議院特別選舉的特點正是這樣的對決。

the system was designed to produce: A Black candidate vs a white candidate.

該系統被設計為產生。黑人候選人對白人候選人

But Georgia, once a reliably Republican state, is changing.

但喬治亞州，曾經是一個可靠的共和黨州，正在發生變化。

Organizers are getting Black voters registered in record numbers,

組織者正在讓黑人選民以創紀錄的數量進行登記。

more of its white residents are voting Democratic,

更多的白人居民投票給民主黨。

and in the 2020 presidential election, a Democrat won Georgia for the first time in 28 years.

而在2020年的總統選舉中，民主黨人28年來首次贏得了格魯吉亞。

If both Democrats win their runoffs, making it 50-50, the Democratic vice president would

如果兩位民主黨人都在第二輪選舉中獲勝，使之成為五五開，民主黨副總統就會

serve as the tie-breaking vote.

作為平局的表決。

So Democrats would take majority control.

所以，民主黨會取得多數派控制權。

And that would mean Biden could likely pass much of his progressive agenda.

而這意味著拜登很可能會通過他的大部分進步議程。

But if Republicans win either seat, they win control.

但如果共和黨贏得任何一個席位，他們就會贏得控制權。

And the Republican who'll be in charge of that Senate, Mitch McConnell,

而共和黨人將執掌參議院，Mitch McConnell。

has vowed not to let any of Biden's legislation pass,

已發誓不會讓拜登的任何立法通過。

saying “think of me as the Grim Reaper.”

說 "把我當成死神"

"I need two senators from this state.

"我需要兩位本州的參議員。

I want to get something done."

我想做一些事情。"

"The voters of Georgia will determine which party runs every committee,

"喬治亞州的選民將決定哪個黨派管理每個委員會。

writes every piece of legislation,

撰寫每一項立法。

and that really means control of this country."

而這真的意味著對這個國家的控制。"

This is a study showing how often members of Congress have voted with the other party.

這是一項顯示國會議員與另一黨派投票頻率的研究。

You can see this used to happen fairly often, but less and less over time.

你可以看到這種情況曾經相當頻繁，但隨著時間的推移越來越少。

Today, there's no longer any expectation that the parties will be able

如今，人們已經不再期待雙方能夠。

to work together on most issues.

在大多數問題上共同努力。

That's why who holds the majority is more important than it's ever been.

這就是為什麼誰掌握多數派比以往任何時候都重要的原因。

"I will fight to expand affordable health care."

"我將為擴大可負擔的醫療服務而奮鬥。"

"A 100% Trump voting record."

"100%的特朗普投票記錄。"

"David Perdue had his chance."

"David Perdue有他的機會。"

"We win Georgia, we save America."

"我們贏了佐治亞州，就能拯救美國。"

The 2020 election is almost over.

2020年大選即將結束。

And we know who will be president.

而且我們知道誰會成為總統。

But, until the state of Georgia weighs in,

但是，在佐治亞州政府介入之前。

we won't know what he'll actually be able to do.

我們不知道他到底能做什麼。