Imagine for a moment that you are Seth Wilbur Moulton. It is no great hardship. Scholars who follow these things rank you in the top decile of US congressional members for bipartisan conduct. You have the patriotic bona fides of a man who gave his best years to the Marine Corps. You have medals of valour that it took an investigative journalist to make public. Cosmic luck gave you an expensive education and the looks of a beau ideal American president from a moreish, if middlebrow, Netflix series. When you run for that office at age 40, all of Washington mumbles: “But of course.”
想象一下你是塞思•威尔伯•莫尔顿(Seth Wilbur Moulton)。这不是很困难。研究这些问题的学者将你列为美国国会最支持两党合作的前10%的议员。你把自己最好的年华奉献给海军陆战队(Marine Corps)，足可证你有真正的爱国情怀。你拥有数枚表彰勇气的勋章，而这还是一个调查记者公之于众的。无与伦比的好运让你接受了昂贵的教育，还让你拥有了一部也许平庸但让人看不够的Netflix电视剧中最完美的美国总统形象。当你在40岁时竞选总统时，华盛顿的所有人都会喃喃自语道：“但这是理所应当的。”