拜登终于宣布了竞选搭档！（内附有声版）

Kamala Harris. /VCG

8月11日，美国民主党总统候选人、前副总统拜登的2020年美国总统大选的竞选搭档终于敲定，拜登发推文宣布选择参议员卡马拉·哈里斯（Kamala Harris）作为竞选搭档。

今年55岁的哈里斯出生于加利福尼亚州奥克兰，她的父母都是移民，她的母亲是印度移民，父亲则是牙买加移民。

哈里斯从政经验丰富，她曾在旧金山地区长期从事地方检察官工作，2010年当选加州州检察长，为该州历史上第一位女性总检察长，2016年当选加州联邦参议员。2019年1月，哈里斯宣布参加民主党总统预选，当年12月因资金短缺而宣布退选。

哈里斯是美国历史上首位获得美国主要政党的副总统候选人提名的有黑人和亚裔血统的女性。如果拜登和哈里斯击败特朗普赢得大选，那么，哈里斯将有可能成为美国历史上首个女性副总统。

Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden has chosen Kamala Harris as his running mate for the 2020 election, making the California senator the first woman of color on a top tier U.S. presidential ticket.

The daughter of an Indian-born mother and Jamaican-born father has long been the favorite to be 77-year-old Biden's vice-presidential pick and selecting the 55-year-old is a relatively safe move that reflects the growing diversity of the Democratic Party – but is nonetheless a watershed moment in American politics. 

If the Biden-Harris ticket wins the November 3 election, Harris would be the first Asian-American, the first non-white woman and the second Black person to be vice president or president. She would also be in pole position to be the Democratic nominee in 2024 if Biden, who often describes himself as a "bridge" or "transitional" figure, were not to run for a second term.

历史表明，媒体报道对于副总统的选举、对选民的投票都有着至关重要的影响。但2008年的情况不同，当时约翰•麦凯恩(John McCain)选择萨拉•佩林(Sarah Palin)被视为判断错误的标志。但今年，考虑到拜登的年龄和美国民众的情绪，媒体的影响力比以往每届都大，因此77岁的拜登选择了推特来宣布此事。

拜登在推特发文写道，“我非常荣幸地宣布，我已经选择卡马拉·哈里斯作为我的竞选伙伴。她是一名无畏的战士，也是美国最优秀的公仆之一。现在有她作为我的竞选搭档，我感到很自豪。”

Screenshot of Joe Biden's tweet

The former California attorney general is in many ways a "do-no-harm" choice – she has won statewide office and run a nationwide campaign, balances the ticket in both age and ethnicity, has some national security experience as well as strong name recognition – at a time when Biden maintains a healthy lead over Donald Trump in the polls and doesn't want to rock the boat. 

History suggests the media coverage of a vice-presidential pick receives vastly outweighs the significance to voters when they cast their ballots – other than in cases like 2008, when John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin was seen as a sign of bad judgment. But in 2020, given Biden's age and the mood of the country, it could be a more important factor than in past elections.

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. /VCG

美国因为种族不平等问题而发生的社会动荡已经持续了几个月。此外，女性，特别是有色人种女性在美国政治中所占的比例甚少，而选择非白人候选人对民主党来说意义重大，因为拜登阵营希望与哈里斯搭档能够吸引非裔及女性选民的选票，非裔的投票率对于11月的大选结果至关重要。

Women – and particularly women of color – are underrepresented in U.S. politics, and the choice of a non-white candidate is significant for a Democratic Party, which receives its most consistent support at the ballot box from Black women.

Whether Black voters – who make up about 13 percent of the electorate – or Indian-American voters will be more energized to vote Democratic by the choice of Harris is less certain, though turnout among Black voters did jump around five points when Barack Obama was on the top of the ticket in 2008 and 2012. 

Suburban voters are likely to be keys to the White House in 2020, and selecting a woman on the pragmatic side of progressivism should be a safe move in terms of retaining their growing support – polls show voters in the suburbs, particularly women, have swung heavily away from Donald Trump since 2016.

 Screenshot of Trump campaign's tweet

特朗普对拜登选择了哈里斯做竞选搭档表示意外，特朗普表示，哈里斯在民主党总统选举中表现差劲。

特朗普说：“哈里斯对拜登非常不尊敬，很难选择一个如此不敬的人。她在辩论中说出的话，在民主党的初选辩论中对‘瞌睡乔’拜登非常糟糕，还以为他不会选她。”

特朗普还表示，哈里斯希望提高税收、消减军费。此外，他也不会忘记联邦最高法院大法官布雷特·卡瓦诺（Brett Kavanaugh），在提名期间接受国会询问时，哈里斯对卡瓦诺的强硬对话。

这是拜登迄今为止做的最重要的竞选决定。2020年美国民主党全国代表大会定于8月17日至21日举行，主要议程包括通过民主党党纲、总统和副总统候选人提名以及候选人发表接受提名演讲。

Harris provides an obstacle and an opportunity for the Trump campaign, which has struggled to define Biden as it did with Hillary Clinton in 2016 – attempts to mock him as "Sleepy Joe" and a "prisoner of the radical left" haven't cut through.

The vice presidential pick gives Trump another chance, and attacks on Harris are inevitable – the first aired on Tuesday night depicting her as "phony Kamala" – but while painting her as a California liberal may resonate among the president's core voters, her record suggests it is unlikely to be effective more broadly.

Harris has held progressive positions over the years and has a liberal voting record in the Senate, but is regarded as being pragmatic, to the left of Biden but not by much.

However, her relatively moderate image and record as a prosecutor has caused disquiet among some progressive Democrats. Biden has papered over splits between the broad moderate and progressive wings by working closely with Bernie Sanders, who tweeted congratulations to Harris on Tuesday, but some in the party will be disappointed that Elizabeth Warren missed out.

Harris' performance during her own bid for Democratic nomination is the main question mark against her name. Her campaign started with a bang and quickly petered out – she left the race before the first votes were cast amid a lack of money, mixed policy direction and rumors about a dysfunctional campaign operation. 

However, Harris did undergo extensive scrutiny of her record during her short campaign and there are unlikely to be skeletons left in the closet.

She also clashed with Biden during the first debate over his past position on racial busing, an encounter which left the former vice president visibly stunned and is likely to be replayed repeatedly over the 85 days to November 3.

While the clash bruised the relationship between the camps, it underlined tough prosecutorial skills that Harris also showed in the Senate. The running mate traditionally takes on a more aggressive role than the presidential hopeful on the campaign trail, and Democrats will be hoping for another sharp performance when she takes on Mike Pence in the vice-presidential debate scheduled for early October.

The decision is the most important of Biden's candidacy so far, and going into the Democratic National Convention next week leading lights from the party have reacted overwhelmingly positively to the selection of Harris – a choice which is both conventional and historic.

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