副总统候选人的政策和形象似乎截然不同，但都具有深厚的中西部根基

【中美创新时报2024 年 8 月 12 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）一位是身穿迷彩服的前高中橄榄球教练，也是来自农场的骄傲的民主党人。另一位是坚定的保守派，他从一个蓝领锈带家庭成长到耶鲁和硅谷，成为一名著名的作家和政治家。两位副总统候选人，明尼苏达州民主党州长蒂姆·沃尔兹（Tim Walz）和俄亥俄州共和党参议员JD万斯（JD Vance），他们的政策、形象和语气似乎截然不同。但他们有一个重要的共同点：深厚的中西部根基。《波士顿环球报》记者萨姆·布罗迪（Sam Brodey）对此作了下述报道。

民主党和共和党总统候选人分别由加利福尼亚人和纽约人领衔，两大阵营都从美国中部地区选拔竞选搭档，希望他们能够吸引密歇根州和威斯康星州等关键战场的选民。沃尔兹和万斯谁能证明自己是更可靠的信使，可能会影响紧张的选举结果，引发一场关于中西部资格的角逐。

关于谁最能代表美国腹地的争论不仅仅是地方方言、服装和美食。它体现了更广泛的竞争，即什么才是“真正的”美国，以及什么样的竞选活动才是真正的美国。虽然两大阵营都没有直接代表摇摆州，但竞选团队希望他们的候选人能够吸引铁锈地带和农村州的关键摇摆选民，这些选民可能会决定选举结果。

在周二的集会上，沃尔兹首次以副总统候选人的身份发表讲话，他直言万斯的背景——以及他那本批评自己成长环境的著名回忆录——与中西部人的现实脱节。

“就像我在美国中部地区长大的所有普通人一样，万斯在耶鲁大学学习，他的职业生涯由硅谷亿万富翁资助，然后写了一本畅销书诋毁那个社区，”沃尔兹讽刺地说。“拜托！这不是美国中部的样子。”

第二天的新闻发布会上，万斯为自己的故事辩护。“事实上，蒂姆·沃尔兹想把我在大学、法学院和成就一番事业变成一件坏事——对我来说，这就是美国梦，”他说。

在接受塞马福（Semafor）媒体采访时，万斯瞄准了沃尔兹长期以来表现出的农村普通人的外表。万斯说，那些不同意民主党观点的人“会因为你穿 T 恤，戴着卡车司机帽而投票给你——我认为这实际上侮辱了大多数选民。”

外界对谁最能代表所谓的“真实美国”的看法经常因党派分歧而产生分歧。但在采访中，中西部政治人物认为，每个人的政策立场和个性之间的关系可能尤其具有决定性。

交通部长皮特·布蒂吉格是印第安纳州南本德市的民主党前市长，据报道，他是沃尔兹的候选人，他辩称，“沃尔兹成功的原因与 JD 万斯失败的原因相同，即氛围与实质相匹配。”

“蒂姆·沃尔兹这样的人，在明尼苏达州展示了如何营造一种非常真实的中西部风情，同时还推行了一些非常受欢迎的有意义的进步政策，”布蒂吉格告诉《波士顿环球报》，他指的是沃尔兹颁布的带薪家庭和医疗假以及全民免费学校午餐。

“现在的情况非常有趣，唐纳德·特朗普是极度不中西部的人，JD万斯是不太令人信服的中西部人，而蒂姆·沃尔兹则是地道的中西部人，”布蒂吉格说。

事实上，州长的履历近乎刻板印象。沃尔兹在内布拉斯加州的一个小镇长大，后来搬到了明尼苏达州的中型城镇曼卡托，在那里教高中地理并担任橄榄球教练。哈里斯-沃尔兹竞选团队正在销售迷彩帽和啤酒套；沃尔兹是一名狂热的猎人和渔夫。

对于共和党人来说，沃尔兹的狩猎装备掩盖了他的自由主义记录，其中包括加强 LGBT 权利和堕胎权。

“迷彩帽无法掩盖蒂姆·沃尔兹激进的极左记录，”印第安纳州共和党众议员、万斯的亲密盟友吉姆·班克斯说。“他可以打扮得像一个温和的中西部人，但他的记录向你展示了他想带领这个国家走向何方。”

俄亥俄州共和党官员、万斯的长期支持者乔希·卡林 (Josh Culling) 指出了万斯自己的中西部特质。例如，他是罕见的共和党人，他出现在工会纠察线上，这表明他可能对可能违背党派正统观念的中西部选民具有吸引力。

“归根结底，在我看来，万斯似乎与人们建立了真实的联系，”卡林说。他还预测，沃尔兹批评万斯离开俄亥俄州米德尔顿加入海军陆战队和耶鲁法学院的背景故事将适得其反。

“如果有人能摆脱不利的处境，并在生活中有所作为，通常会得到更多的赞扬，”他说。“我不认为俄亥俄州存在反成功情绪。”

但一些共和党人表示，万斯可以以更积极的方式强调他的锈带故事，并指出沃尔兹快乐的战士形象与参议员更强硬的风格形成了鲜明对比。

明尼苏达州共和党参议员扎克·达克沃斯承认副总统候选人扮演着传统的“攻击犬”角色，但他也指出，州长倾向于乐观。

“正如你所见，沃尔兹会出拳，但他有目的、有策略地尽可能保持积极态度，”达克沃斯说。“这比悲观失望要好。”

这位代表双城郊区温和派的明尼苏达州共和党人表示，万斯有机会通过自己的故事和作为年幼孩子父亲的经历来吸引选民。

“如果他能真实、真诚地讲述这个故事，引起人们的同情……这对他来说将是一个好兆头，”达克沃斯说。

特朗普的上一位副总统候选人迈克·彭斯来自印第安纳州，他以能够展现自己亲切的举止和家庭价值观而闻名。但民主党这次看到的是与特朗普截然不同的中西部对手，是特朗普“让美国再次伟大”民粹主义的继承者。

“我与迈克·彭斯有着深刻的分歧，但我要说的是，他确实给竞选带来了一定的中西部影响，”布蒂吉格说，彭斯担任州长时，布蒂吉格曾担任印第安纳州市长。“JD 万斯可能住在俄亥俄州，但他并没有帮助解决唐纳德·特朗普几乎公然反对中西部价值观的问题。”

布蒂吉格认为，原因与他认为沃尔兹追查万斯的故事和精英资历是公平的一样。 （布蒂吉格也是一位毕业于常春藤盟校的老将。）

“如果你来自工业发达的中西部或阿巴拉契亚地区，你有机会进入常春藤盟校或获得风险投资工作的机会，但当你进入参议院时，你甚至懒得投票支持儿童税收抵免，这就引发了一个问题，即你是否忘记了自己来自哪里，”他说，指的是万斯跳过了最近参议院关于扩大儿童税收抵免的投票，而参议员普遍支持这一想法。

两位副总统候选人已经将他们的对决信息直接带到了战场上；上周，万斯对副总统卡马拉·哈里斯和沃尔兹在威斯康星州和密歇根州的停留进行了反制。两人也有望在例行的副总统辩论中直接交锋，尽管正式日期尚未确定。

观察家们可以达成共识的一件事是：这将是一场以中西部为主的竞选。

“你将与对如何给这个地区带来繁荣持有不同观点的人进行一场见识广博的副总统辩论，”卡林说，“坦率地说，这是有用的。”

题图：上个月，明尼苏达州州长蒂姆·沃尔兹在圣保罗的卡马拉·哈里斯拉票活动中向志愿者发表讲话。Caroline Yang/NYT

附原英文报道：

VP candidates have policies and profiles that may seem worlds apart, but both have deep Midwestern roots

By Sam Brodey Globe Staff,Updated August 12, 2024 

WASHINGTON — One is a camo-wearing former high school football coach and proud Democrat from farm country. The other is a staunch conservative whose rise from a blue-collar Rust Belt family to Yale and Silicon Valley made him a famous author and politician.

The two vice presidential contenders, Democratic Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota and Republican Senator JD Vance of Ohio, have policies, profiles, and tones that can seem worlds apart. But they have one important thing in common: deep Midwestern roots.

With the Democratic and Republican presidential tickets led by a Californian and a New Yorker, respectively, both camps have tapped running mates from the nation’s middle, banking on their ability to appeal to voters in such key battlegrounds as Michigan and Wisconsin. Whether Walz or Vance proves to be a more credible messenger could influence the outcome of a tight election, triggering a jousting match over Midwestern bona fides.

The battle over who most authentically represents the heartland isn’t just about regional dialects, clothing, and cuisines. It speaks to a broader competition over just what qualifies as “real” America, and what kind of campaigning speaks to it. While neither directly represents a swing state, the campaigns are hoping their candidate will appeal to the key swing voters in Rust Belt and rural states that could decide the election.

Speaking for the first time as the vice presidential nominee at a Tuesday rally, Walz went right after Vance’s background — and his famous memoir criticizing the culture he grew up in — arguing it was out of touch with the reality of Midwesterners.

“Like all regular people I grew up with in the heartland, JD studied at Yale, had his career funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, and then wrote a bestseller trashing that community,” Walz said sarcastically. “Come on! That’s not what middle America is.”

At a press conference the next day, Vance defended his story. “The fact that Tim Walz wants to turn it into a bad thing that I worked myself through college, through law school, and made something of myself – to me that’s the American dream,” he said.

And in an interview with the outlet Semafor, Vance took aim at the rural everyman look Walz has long displayed. The idea that people who disagree with Democrats would “vote for you because you wear a T-shirt and, you know, you have a trucker hat — I think it’s actually insulting to most voters,” Vance said.

Outside opinions on who best captures so-called Real America often broke along party lines. But in interviews, Midwestern political players argued the relationship between each man’s policy positions and their personalities could be especially decisive.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the Democratic former mayor of South Bend, Ind., and a reported contender for Walz’s spot on the ticket, argued “the reason that [Walz] works is the same as the reason that JD Vance doesn’t work, which is that the vibe matches the substance.”

“What you get with a Tim Walz is somebody who showed in Minnesota how to have a very Midwestern feel that is authentic, coupled with meaningful progressive policies that turn out to also be very popular,” Buttigieg told the Globe, referencing Walz’s enactment of paid family and medical leave and universal free school lunches.

“It’s this really interesting dynamic now where you have somebody who is just … extravagantly un-Midwestern in Donald Trump, somebody who’s unconvincingly Midwestern in JD Vance, and then somebody who’s abundantly Midwestern in Tim Walz,” Buttigieg said.

Indeed, the governor’s biography borders on stereotype. Walz grew up in small-town Nebraska before moving to the mid-sized town of Mankato, Minn., where he taught high school geography and coached football. The Harris-Walz campaign is selling camouflage hats and beer koozies; Walz is an avid hunter and fisherman.

To Republicans, Walz’s hunting gear belies his liberal record, which includes strengthening LGBT rights and abortion access.

“A camo hat can’t hide Tim Walz’s radically far-left record,” said Representative Jim Banks, an Indiana Republican and close ally of Vance. “He can dress up like a moderate Midwesterner, but his record shows you the direction he wants to take this country.”

Josh Culling, an Ohio GOP official and longtime Vance supporter, noted Vance’s own Midwestern idiosyncrasies. He’s a rare Republican who shows up on union picket lines, for instance, a sign of his potential appeal to Midwest voters who may defy party orthodoxies.

“At the end of the day, JD for me seems to connect at an authentic level with folks,” Culling said. He also predicted that Walz knocking Vance’s backstory of leaving Middletown, Ohio, for the Marine Corps and Yale Law School would backfire.

“It’s generally more celebrated than not if someone can get out of a toxic situation and do something with their lives,” he said. “I don’t think there’s an antisuccess sentiment in Ohio.”

But Vance could emphasize his Rust Belt tale in a more positive way, some Republicans said, noting the contrast between Walz’s happy warrior persona and the senator’s more hard-edged style.

Zach Duckworth, a Republican Minnesota state senator, acknowledged the traditional “attack dog” role of a vice presidential candidate but noted his governor’s penchant for optimism.

“Walz as you’ve seen, he’ll throw punches, but he’s purposeful and strategic about trying to be positive when and where he can,” Duckworth said. “That plays better than doom and gloom.”

The Minnesota Republican, who represents a moderate swath of the Twin Cities suburbs, said Vance has an opportunity to reach those voters by leaning on his story and his experience as a father to young children.

“If it’s a story he can tell with authenticity, sincerity, generate some compassion from folks… it’ll bode very well for him,” Duckworth said.

Trump’s last vice presidential nominee, Mike Pence, hailed from Indiana and was defined by his ability to play up his folksy demeanor and family values. But Democrats see a very different Midwestern counterpart to Trump this time around, an heir of his MAGA populism.

“I have profound differences with Mike Pence, but one thing I’ll say about him is that he did bring a certain Midwestern affect to the campaign,” said Buttigieg, who was an Indiana mayor when Pence was governor. “JD Vance may live in Ohio, but he is not helping with Donald Trump’s problem of being almost ostentatiously antithetical to Midwestern values.”

The reason why, argued Buttigieg, is the same reason he believes it’s fair game for Walz to go after Vance’s story and elite credentials. (Buttigieg is also an Ivy League-educated veteran.)

“If you come from the industrial Midwest or Appalachia, you get a chance to have access to the Ivy League or get a shot at a job in venture capital, but then you get into the Senate and you can’t even be bothered to vote for the child tax credit, it raises this question about whether you forget where you come from,” he said, referencing Vance skipping a recent Senate vote on an expanded child tax credit, an idea the senator has generally supported.

Both VP candidates have already taken their dueling messages straight to the battleground; this past week, Vance counter-programmed Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz’s stops in Wisconsin and Michigan. The two are also on course to clash directly at the customary vice presidential debate, though a formal date has not been set.

One thing observers can agree on: It’ll be a Midwest-heavy affair.

“You’re going to have a well-informed VP debate with guys who have different perspectives on how to bring prosperity to this region,” said Culling, “which could frankly use it.”