Speaker Paul Ryan’s surprise exit
众议院议长保罗·瑞安意外退出
By Philip Elliott
文/菲利普·艾略特
HOUSE SPEAKER PAUL RYAN AND WHITE HOUSE chief of staff John Kelly made the obligatory small talk
四月初，在奥斯汀的一家酒店共乘一部电梯时，
as they shared an elevator in a hotel in Austin in early April.
众议院议长保罗·瑞安和白宫首席发言人约翰·凯利两人进行了义务式的寒暄。
They asked about each other’s families, groused about allergy season and complained that hotels are always too air-conditioned.
他们互相询问了对方的家庭情况，并对过敏季节和酒店的空调总是开得太大发了发牢骚。
But hanging in the air between them, Ryan told friends, was a mutual sympathy for their shared burden: President Donald J. Trump.
但两人都笼罩在，瑞安告诉朋友们，他们对同时压在两人肩上的负担——唐纳德·特朗普的同情之下。
There wasn’t much to say, really, or much to be done.
不过，已经没什么可说，也没什么可做了。
Both have found working with the President to be an infinitely frustrating task.
两人都觉得和总统共事是一项让人无比泄气的工作。
Both had resigned themselves to trying to limit the damage.
但两人也都接受了自己要努力减少损失的责任。
Washington has long simmered with talk that Kelly had reached a breaking point and was on his way out,
长期以来，华盛顿一直有凯利已经到了崩溃的边缘，即将脱离白宫的传言在酝酿着，
but as it happened, it was Ryan who exited first.
结果反而是瑞安先退出。
On April 11, Ryan strode to the podium at the Capitol
4月11日，瑞安大步走向国会大厦的讲台，
and declared that he would not seek an 11th term representing his hometown in a southern corner of Wisconsin.
宣布他不会再争取代表家乡，威斯康辛州南部的一个角落，的第11个任期了。
True to form, Ryan put the most optimistic spin he could on the situation.
像往常一样，瑞恩对形势做出了最乐观的预测。
“You realize that you hold the office for just a small part of our history, so you better make the most of it.
“意识到你的任期仅仅是历史长河中的一瞬，你最好充分利用好那段时间。
It’s fleeting, and that inspires you to do big things,” he said.
因为它转眼就会过去，你会因此得到大展拳脚的动力，”他说。
But Ryan’s departure marks a dangerous moment for his party.
不过，瑞安的离开也标志着共和党已经陷入了危险。
The 48-year-old Speaker was once the face of its future.
因为这位48岁的议长曾经代表着共和党的未来。
Now his exit serves as a warning to House Republicans that they could well lose their majority in the fall elections.
现在，他的退出等于是向众议院的共和党人发出了一个警告：他们很可能在秋季的中期选举中失去多数党地位。
It sends a signal to conservatives that the real fight remains keeping control of the Senate.
他的退出也向保守派发出了一个信号，即斗争的核心仍然是保持对参议院的控制。
And it shows just how much the party is struggling in the Trump era.
不仅如此，他的退出还显示了共和党在特朗普时代举步维艰到了何种程度。
RYAN’S TIME atop the House was never going to be easy; he didn’t even want the job in the first place.
瑞安领导众议院的日子从来都不会轻松；他一开始甚至都没想要做这份工作。
Drafted into service in 2015 by strategists who thought he could bridge the chasm between the party’s Establishment and activist wings
2015年前议长约翰·博纳意外退休后，
in the wake of former Speaker John Boehner’s surprise retirement,
认为他能够弥合党内建党派和活动派之间的鸿沟的战略家们选中了他，
he accepted on the condition that he could spend most weekends at home with his children.
他接受了这份工作，前提是大多数周末他都要能和他的孩子们待在家里。
“You can’t take away my family,” Ryan said at the time.
“你不能夺走我的家庭，”瑞安当时说。
That proved more difficult than Ryan had anticipated, and he again cited family in his retirement announcement.
结果，要做到做一点比瑞安预想的要难，在退休声明中他再次提到了他的家人。
“My kids aren’t getting any younger, and if I stay, they’re only going to know me as a weekend dad.
“我的孩子们一点儿也不会往回长，我要是留下来，他们就只会拿我当周末爸爸了。
And that’s just something I consciously can’t do,” he said at the Capitol.
这种事我是不能有意识地去做的，”他在国会发表退休声明演讲时说到。
Still, the speakership was an outlet for Ryan’s ideological ambitions.
尽管如此，议长一职还是为瑞安实现其思想抱负提供了一个出路。
As Mitt Romney’s pick for Vice President in 2012, he never quite shook the bug for a presidential run of his own.
作为米特·罗姆尼2012年选中的副总统候选人，瑞安从来都没有彻底放弃自己参加总统竞选的可能性。
He brushed off calls to join the race in 2016,
2016年时他虽然没有理会让他参加竞选的呼声，
but withheld his full-throated support for Trump’s candidacy in part
但一定程度上，他还是没有给特朗普的竞选予以全力的支持，
because he had a 2020 run of his own in mind.
因为他有自己参加2020年总统大选的打算。
