Much political campaigning consists of spending time in diners accosting(主动与（陌生人）搭话) unsuspecting(毫无戒备的，不知情的) voters. And so on a recent Friday in Los Angeles Matt Mahan, the 43-year-old mayor of San Jose and a candidate for governor of California, sat down at Langer’s Deli to enjoy the #19 (pastrami, swiss and coleslaw on rye). He was flanked by(两侧有……陪同) Norm Langer himself (who urged patrons to “Eat!”), and booths occupied by locals worried about homelessness and drug use in nearby MacArthur Park. “Every politician runs on homelessness being a crisis, and then we just manage it,” said Mr Mahan. “It’s unfair, and we’re going to fix it.” Then he hoisted the sandwich (“World’s best!”), and took a bite.
许多政治竞选活动包括在餐馆与毫无防备的选民搭话。于是最近一个周五，在洛杉矶，43岁的圣何塞市长、加州州长候选人马特·马汉来到兰格熟食店，享用了19号套餐（五香烟熏牛肉、瑞士干酪和凉拌卷心菜配黑麦面包）。诺姆·兰格本人坐在他旁边（他催促食客“吃吧！”），而附近的卡座里坐着担心附近麦克阿瑟公园无家可归者和毒品问题的当地人。“每个政客都把无家可归称为危机，然后我们只是应付它，”马汉先生说，“这不公平，我们要解决它。”然后他举起三明治（“世界最佳！”），咬了一口。
When he entered the crowded governor’s race in January, Mr Mahan was a long shot(成功可能性很小的尝试/候选人). But an uninspiring field of candidates, a scandal that torpedoed(彻底破坏，使失败) a front-runner and California’s nonpartisan primary, in which the top two candidates go through to the general election, has made the race unpredictable. Though the primary is not until June 2nd, ballots will be posted to voters from May 4th. So Mr Mahan has little time to make his pitch. He argues, essentially, that California needs a pragmatic(务实的，注重实效的) problem-solver in Sacramento who will stand up to his own Democratic allies as well as the president. His campaign represents an idea (popular on the wonkier edges of his party) that the best defence against Trumpism is proving that Democrats can govern effectively in places they already run.
当他在一月份加入拥挤的州长竞选时，马汉先生是一个冷门人选。但缺乏吸引力的候选人阵容、摧毁领跑者的丑闻以及加州的无党派初选（前两名进入大选）让这场竞选变得难以预测。虽然初选要到6月2日才举行，但选票将从5月4日起寄给选民。因此马汉先生几乎没有时间来宣传他的主张。他本质上认为，加州需要一位在萨克拉门托务实的解决问题者，他既能对抗自己的民主党盟友，也能对抗总统。他的竞选代表了一种观点（在其政党的政策精英圈中流行）：对抗特朗普主义的最佳防御是证明民主党可以在他们已经执政的地方有效治理。
Mr Mahan grew up on Rainbow Lane in Watsonville, a farming town in a corner of California best known for Steinbeck and strawberry fields(① 背景：约翰·斯坦贝克（John St...). He received a scholarship to attend a Jesuit prep school in San Jose. His two-hour commute(通勤，上下班往返) was like a relay race(像接力赛一样): dad drove him to Corralitos, where he was picked up by a friend who ferried(（用船或车）运送) him to the outskirts of Santa Cruz. One bus took him over the mountains to downtown San Jose, where he could board another that dropped him five blocks from school. Bus rides were for sleeping, homework and reading the Pajaronian, a local newspaper. “I imagined being like Bilbo Baggins leaving the Shire,” says Mr Mahan, revealing his inner nerd. “It was like we were going on a journey every day.” It’s a routine that may resonate with many Californians who drive hours from towns where they can afford housing to jobs in the state’s superstar cities.
马汉先生在沃森维尔的彩虹巷长大，这是加州一角的一个农业小镇，以斯坦贝克和草莓田闻名。他获得奖学金进入圣何塞的一所耶稣会预备学校。他两小时的通勤就像一场接力赛：父亲开车送他到科拉利托斯，在那里一位朋友接上他并把他送到圣克鲁斯郊区。然后乘公交车翻山越岭到圣何塞市中心，再换乘另一辆公交车到距学校五个街区的地方。公交车上用于睡觉、做作业和阅读当地报纸《Pajaronian》。“我想象自己像比尔博·巴金斯离开夏尔，”马汉先生说道，显露出他内心的书呆子气。“就像我们每天都在旅行。”这种日常可能会引起许多加州人的共鸣，他们从房价可负担的城镇驱车数小时到该州超级明星城市上班。