In these waning summer days of waxing Democratic optimism, of rising hope within the party that it will regain some power in Washington and start to overcome a national reputation for elitism and ineptitude, no state seems more pregnant with possibility than Ohio.(在民主党乐观情绪日益高涨的这个夏末时节，党内越来越希望能在华盛顿重获部分权力，并开始摆脱其精英主义和无能的名声。在此背景下，似乎没有哪个州比俄亥俄州更充满可能性。) Once a bellwether(风向标，领头羊) for national politics, Ohio has trended solidly Republican this century as the party gained ground with(在……方面取得进展) working-class voters. But polls suggest the Democrats have a chance at not only a Senate seat but also the governorship, which they have managed to hold only once, for one term, since 1991. They could even pick up(获得，赢得) a House seat or two.
在民主党乐观情绪日益高涨的这个夏末时节，党内越来越希望能在华盛顿重获部分权力，并开始摆脱其精英主义和无能的名声。在此背景下，似乎没有哪个州比俄亥俄州更充满可能性。俄亥俄州曾是全国政治的晴雨表，但本世纪以来，随着共和党赢得工薪阶层选民的支持，该州已坚定地倒向共和党。但民调显示，民主党不仅有机会赢得一个参议院席位，还有机会赢得州长职位——自1991年以来，他们仅有一次成功担任州长，且仅一个任期。他们甚至可能赢得一两个众议院席位。
High fuel prices, tariffs and the sheer(纯粹的，完全的) unpopularity of Donald Trump are improving Democrats’ odds(胜算，几率) across the Midwest. In Ohio, the sharp public turn against data centres is a particular problem for Republicans, given their dominance(鉴于他们的主导地位) in the state. Senator Jon Husted, confronting a former Democratic senator, Sherrod Brown, has scrambled(仓促行动，争抢) to introduce a bill to spare consumers from(使消费者免受) electricity-rate increases due to data centres. But he previously celebrated their construction. The National Republican Senatorial Committee wrote this month to <small>AI </small>firms seeking help fending off(抵挡，避开) attacks from Mr Brown and others, warning that data centres had become “the anchor hanging around Husted’s neck”.
高油价、关税以及唐纳德·特朗普的极度不受欢迎，正在提高民主党在中西部的胜算。在俄亥俄州，公众对数据中心的强烈反对对共和党来说是一个特别的问题，因为共和党在该州占据主导地位。参议员乔恩·赫斯特德正面临前民主党参议员谢罗德·布朗的挑战，他匆忙提出一项法案，以保护消费者免受数据中心导致的电价上涨影响。但他此前曾庆祝数据中心的建设。共和党全国参议院委员会本月致信人工智能公司，寻求帮助以抵御布朗等人的攻击，并警告说数据中心已成为“挂在赫斯特德脖子上的锚”。
David Cohen, a political scientist at the University of Akron, compares Republicans trying to evade complicity for data centres to bank robbers who open their loot only to have telltale dye explode in their faces.(阿克伦大学的政治学家戴维·科恩将共和党试图逃避数据中心责任的行为，比作打开赃物却遭遇防爆染料在脸上炸开的银行劫匪。) “That dye is not going anywhere,” he says. He thinks Democrats might sweep(横扫，大获全胜) statewide offices and win the Senate seat. “I mean, you can feel it,” he says. “There’s a political earthquake(政治地震，重大政治变动) about to happen.”
阿克伦大学的政治学家戴维·科恩将共和党试图逃避数据中心责任的行为，比作打开赃物却遭遇防爆染料在脸上炸开的银行劫匪。“那染料不会消失，”他说。他认为民主党可能会横扫全州职位并赢得参议院席位。“我的意思是，你能感觉到，”他说，“一场政治地震即将发生。”
High in the middle, round on both ends
中间高，两端圆