“山巅的光明之城”

在最近的奥巴马医改与债务上限问题上共和党遭到挫败，美国前国务卿和财长詹姆斯·贝克却仍有理由乐观。他说，历史上，失败的一党总被说成是无力的、无助的、无希望的，但，经过深刻的批评与自我批评而重获成功的案例其实并不少。要想取胜，你必须给人以希望，就像当年里根的“山巅的光明之城”那样。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

James Baker 詹姆斯·贝克曾在里根和老布什政府担任过国务卿、财长和白宫办公厅主任，并领导了五次共和党总统选战。

obituary [ə(ʊ)'bɪtʃʊərɪ; -tʃərɪ; -tjʊərɪ 讣告

tilting at political windmills 像堂吉诃德一样向风车发起进攻

fissure ['fɪʃə] 分裂

gubernatorial [,g(j)uːbənə'tɔːrɪəl] 州长的

animosity [,ænɪ'mɒsɪtɪ] 憎恶，敌意

maximalist ['mæksɪm(ə)lɪst] 俄国最高纲领派，反对妥协派

a shining city on the hill 里根在1989年的离任告别演说中以此来比喻美国，即在任何恶劣的环境下都能屹立不倒，并给人以希望，这一说法被广为引用。

a thousand points of light 1988 年老布什在接受总统候选提名时以此赞扬美国的志愿组织，后来以此为名成立基金会来支持志愿者活动。

To win again, the Republicans must be a party of hope （1008 words）

By James Baker, former US Secretary of State. Secretary of Treasury, and White House Chief of Staff

As obituaries are written about the demise of the Republican party, I am reminded of Mark Twain's line, “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” As a Republican for 43 years, I admit to a certain bias. But I remain positive about my party's future.

That is not to say that the Grand Old Party did not administer self-inflicted wounds in its recent effort to defund the Affordable Care Act. My party has been hurt by this tilting at political windmills. But while President Barack Obama and the Democrats may have scored a political victory, its impact in the long term is unclear and they were also hurt by the fallout.

There was, however, one big loser: the American people. This misguided episode cost the federal government $24bn, cost the country a potential drop in gross domestic product, and cost the GOP an opportunity to focus on the extraordinary failure associated with the ACA rollout.

Most Americans blame Republicans for the fiasco. And the fight over reopening the government and raising the debt ceiling revealed fissures within the GOP leadership. Understandably, questions have arisen about the party's future. Will it split between Tea Partiers and its more mainstream factions? Will a third party rise from the aftermath of this schism? Is the Republican brand so tarnished that it cannot take control of the Senate in 2014 or the White House in 2016?

Having participated in presidential politics since 1976, one thing is clear to me. The party out of power is typically seen as impotent, helpless and hopeless. But just as inevitably, that same party always seems to rebound after serious soul searching.

Moreover, there has always been a wide range of interest groups in the party. For decades, we have had substantial fights between rightwing and more establishment Republicans. This infighting was particularly brutal in 1976, 1980 and 1988, and we went on to win two out of three presidential elections.

The party's diversity, however, is a strength, not a weakness. Today, Tea Partiers bring a passion that can be an important edge in elections. But mainstream Republicans remain indispensable. It may sound trite, but it is true: united we stand, divided we fall. I think most Republicans understand that.

So what does the GOP need to do now? In the short term, remember that tactics and strategy both matter. It was a fool's errand to tie the defunding of the ACA to a government shutdown and a debt-ceiling debate. Because Democrats control the White House and the Senate, the strategy was never going to work. To paraphrase Clayton Williams, a Republican who lost the 1990 Texas gubernatorial race after a series of gaffes: we shot ourselves in the foot and reloaded.

That does not mean that Republicans should stop criticising the ACA. It remains an example of big government at its worst: cumbersome, complicated and intrusive. The best – in fact, only – way to repeal the ACA is to control the White House, Senate and the House of Representatives. Democrats, after all, enacted the law when they controlled all three. So the focus should be on winning elections to control those levers of power.

Meanwhile, given the animosity between the parties, the timing may be difficult for a grand bargain. But eventually, Washington is going to have to make those hard choices, and the sooner it starts, the quicker the US digs out of its fiscal mess. As future fiscal deadlines approach Republicans should push for reforms like those recently spelt out by Paul Ryan, House budget chairman, which address the entire federal budget. They should not derail that effort by once again embracing a maximalist position on defunding the ACA.

The president says he is open to a budget deal. Republicans should take him at his word and enter into good-faith negotiations. If he does not, then he will be ignoring what most presidents have done in the past – negotiate debt ceiling increases. He is the leader of the country, and so he cannot continue to just sit back and lecture us about the severity of the problems. Americans expect their president to lead. If he does not, he will pay a political price.

In the long term, there are several things Republicans should do. First and foremost, they should again become the party of hope, opportunity and optimism, and not anger and resentment. Americans responded when Ronald Reagan spoke about a shining city on the hill and when George HW Bush invoked “a thousand points of light”. Party faithful and independent voters alike responded to such optimism. They will again.

Republicans must also focus on smart, efficient and effective government. As appealing as “no government” may sound, it lacks practicality. A limited government, one that develops intelligent, cost-effective solutions, is the best approach to meeting our challenges.

Also, the GOP must recognise that the country's demographics are changing. Ignoring that phenomenon – or worse, fighting it – could be catastrophic. The party should reach out to Hispanics, Asians and other minorities as many of them support the Republican ideals of economic conservatism, personal freedom, hard work, religion and family values.

Republicans also need to go where the voters are. Deal with urban issues rather than ignore them. Support national security but do not be the “party of war”. Promote economic conservatism but do not abandon social conservatives. We need a “big tent” to win elections.

Overnight is an eternity in politics so we have plenty of time to regain our mojo. We have done this before and we have emerged stronger. We will again, provided that we focus smartly on the realities of politics and policy alike, and do not embrace political strategies that are doomed to fail.

The writer led five presidential campaigns from 1976 to 1992

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1.Which of the following is correct, according to the article?

A.Mark Twain was a famous Republican.

B.The Obamacare has been defunded.

C.Nobody scores a political victory from this struggle.

D.The writer believes the strategy of GOP is problematic.

答案(1)

2.The writer endorses which of the following prediction?

A.A third party might emerge from the aftermath.

B.The GOP would split into Tea Party and a more mainstream faction.

C.The Republicans would hardly compete for the Senate and the Presidency later.

D.None of above.

答案(2)

3.How does the writer see the Tea Party?

A.They inject passion and diversity into the GOP.

B.They do not criticize big government hard enough.

C.They are indispensable in facing the country's changing demographics.

D.They look like the “party of war” for their advocacy for national security.

答案(3)

4.What, according to the writer, is a strategy that “doomed to fail”?

A.Reach out to Hispanic and Asian Americans.

B.Opposing Obamacare.

C.Not negotiating budget.

D.Promoting economic conservatism.

答案(4)

* * *

(1)答案：D.The writer believes the strategy of GOP is problematic.

解释：文章中说共和党人将债务上限与奥巴马医改捆绑起来的策略是“像堂吉诃德一样向风车发起进攻”，也就是无太大意义，反而伤害自己。在后面又强调说这种策略是a fool's errand. 民主党获得了最近的预算战的胜利，因为奥巴马医改继续执行，而债务上限也得以提升，因此民主党人获得了胜利。他并未提到马克·吐温的政治观点。

(2)答案：D.None of above.

解释：ABC都不正确。作者以自己领导了5次总统选战的经历说，有一件事是很清楚的，那就是失败的一党总被看成是不可救药的，但是after serious soul searching，仍然可以重新取得成功。

(3)答案：A.They inject passion and diversity into the GOP.

解释：由于茶党支持者多是草根和中下层中产阶级，他们对“大佬党”的多样性和赢取选票是有助益的。但是，他们在反对大政府的立场上太过强硬而不愿妥协的策略，不利于共和党重掌参议院和白宫，而作者说，要想干掉奥巴马医改这样的大政府计划，必须要先赢得选举。CD是文章最后作者对整个共和党的批评和建议。

(4)答案：C.Not negotiating budget.

解释：贝克说，ABD是共和党要继续做的，而预算问题是必须坦诚谈判的。贝克尤其提到了保罗·瑞安的财政改革，认为同僚们应当扎实做工作，而不是站定立场不妥协。