以史爲鑑，民主黨暫且放棄彈劾特朗普
Democratic congressional leaders have, for the time being, ruled out pursuing impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.
民主黨國會領導人暫時排除了彈劾川普總統。
The decision by Democratic congressional leaders to pass on impeachment seems to be mindful of recent history, especially the Republican-led impeachment effort against President Bill Clinton in 1998.
民主黨國會領導人做出這一決定似乎是留意到了近些年的歷史，特別是1998年共和黨領導的對克林頓總統的彈劾。
In announcing her opposition to impeachment, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said simply that Trump “wasn’t worth it.”
衆議院議長佩洛西在宣佈她反對彈劾的立場時表示，這只是因爲川普“不值得彈劾。”
Pelosi is sticking to her position despite pressure from liberal activists.
儘管受到自由派活動人士的壓力，佩洛西仍然堅持自己的立場。
“Impeachment is a divisive issue in our country, and let us see what the facts are, what the law is, and what the behavior is of the president,” Pelosi recently told reporters at the Capitol.​
佩洛西最近在國會大廈對記者表示：“彈劾在我們國家是一個造成分裂的議題，讓我們看看事實是什麼，法律是什麼，還有總統有怎樣的行爲。”
For President Trump, the idea of impeachment is, not surprisingly, a non-starter.
對川普總統來說，彈劾的想法毫無疑問是行不通的。
“Well, you can’t impeach somebody that is doing a great job. That is the way I view it,” Trump said when asked about the issue in January.
川普在一月份被問到這個問題時表示：“你不能彈劾一個工作做得很好的人。這就是我的看法。”
Recent polls show most voters do not favor impeachment at this time.
近期的民意調查顯示，大多數選民此時並不支持彈劾。
Given that the 2020 election cycle is underway, Democrats may prefer to have the voters try to oust Trump during next year’s election, according to George Washington University analyst Matt Dallek.
喬治城大學的分析師馬特·達萊克表示，考慮到2020年選舉週期正在進行當中，民主黨可能更願意讓選民在明年的選舉中趕走川普。
“By the time impeachment proceedings were even to ramp up, you are talking about the end of 2019 or early 2020,” Dallek told VOA this week. “That creates its own complication because there is another remedy for removing a president and it is called the election.”
達萊克說：“到彈劾程序接近尾聲的時候就已經到2019年末或者2020年初了，這自身就帶來了複雜性，因爲還有另一種換總統的方式，那就是選舉。”
Democrats clearly recall what happened to Bill Clinton in 1998. Clinton lied about and tried to cover up his affair with intern Monica Lewinsky, which led to his impeachment by the House. Clinton remained in office after he was acquitted in a trial in the Senate.
民主黨人清楚地記得1998年發生在克林頓身上的事情。克林頓撒謊並試圖掩蓋他和實習生萊文斯基的婚外情，導致他被衆議院彈劾。克林頓在參議院的審判中被宣判無罪並得以留任。
Republicans paid a price for the Clinton impeachment, losing five House seats in the 1998 midterm elections.
共和黨人爲彈劾克林頓付出了代價，在1998年的中期選舉中失去了5個衆議院席位。
Some analysts predict that President Trump could face renewed calls for his ouster depending on the findings of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
一些分析人士預測，川普總統可能再次面臨要求他下臺的呼聲，這取決於特別檢察官穆勒關於俄羅斯干涉2016年選舉的調查結果。
“I think if the Mueller report indicates some serious wrongdoing by the president and his campaign, it really empowers Democrats to begin deliberating how to move forward with impeachment proceedings,” said Brookings Institution scholar John Hudak.
布魯金斯學會的約翰·胡達克表示：“我認爲，如果穆勒的報告顯示總統及其競選活動存在嚴重的不法行爲，那麼民主黨人就會開始考慮如何推進彈劾程序。”
