希拉里和特朗普口水战背后的操盘手

As Trump and Clinton Clash, 2 Operatives Duke It Out in Their Shadows
希拉里和特朗普口水战背后的操盘手

One takes a pint-size dog named Toby almost everywhere, smokes electronic cigarettes and wears his silver hair in a sweeping pompadour.

一个人走到哪儿都带着一只名叫托比(Toby)的小宠物狗。他抽电子烟，一头银发全部向后梳起。

The other has a portrait of Richard M. Nixon tattooed on his back, boasts that he owns more shoes than Imelda Marcos and traffics in conspiracy theories about the Kennedy assassination.

另一人背上纹有理查德·M·尼克松(Richard M. Nixon)头像，喜欢夸耀自己的鞋比伊梅尔达·马科斯(Imelda Marcos)都多，还会传播有关肯尼迪遇刺的阴谋理论。

The 2016 election, filled with ugly insults, whispered innuendo and sordid character attacks, features two central antagonists known for their colorful traits and devotion to the dark arts of politics: David Brock and Roger J. Stone Jr.

2016年的美国总统大选充满了丑恶的辱骂、窃窃的影射之语和卑劣的人格攻击，这里面有两位核心敌手在操作，二人都以性格张扬和热衷黑色政治艺术著称：他们就是戴维·布罗克(David Brock)和小罗杰·J·斯通(Roger J. Stone Jr.)。

Each has a passion for his side — Mr. Brock for Hillary Clinton and Mr. Stone for Donald J. Trump — and a zeal for attacking critics of his candidate. Their intensity and pugnacity make them either perfect villains or misunderstood masterminds, depending on your point of view.

二人都对自己支持的一方充满激情——布罗克支持希拉里·克林顿(Hillary Clinton)，斯通支持唐纳德·J·特朗普(Donald J. Trump)——也会狂热地攻击其候选人的批评者。因为有这种强烈和好斗的特质，他们可以是十足的恶棍，也可能是被误解的幕后天才，这取决于你怎么看。

Mr. Brock, 53, divides his time between Washington and the West Village in Manhattan, throwing lively salons and wooing liberal donors on both coasts, often accompanied by Toby, his schnoodle — a schnauzer-poodle mix.

53岁的布罗克在华盛顿和曼哈顿西村两地生活，时常举办热闹的沙龙活动，竭力争取美国东西岸自由派的捐款人，身旁往往跟着他的贵宾雪纳瑞混种犬托比。

Mr. Stone, 64, has a fashion blog and likes to quote Gore Vidal’s advice to “never miss a chance to have sex or appear on television.” He divides his time between Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan crammed with political memorabilia and Le Corbusier furniture.

64岁的斯通撰写时尚博客，喜欢引用戈尔·维达尔(Gore Vidal)的那条建议——“不要错过任何一个做爱或上电视的机会”。他生活在佛罗里达州的劳德代尔堡和曼哈顿上东区两地，而位于上东区的公寓里摆满了各种政治纪念品和柯布西耶(Le Corbusier)设计的家具。

“Socially, he’s a very charming, likable, intelligent guy,” Mr. Stone said of his rival in a telephone interview on Saturday. He praised Mr. Brock’s style, saying he is “a dapper guy” and likening his hairstyle to that of the title character in “Eraserhead,” David Lynch’s 1977 surrealist horror film.

“从社交层面讲，他是一个非常有魅力、讨人喜爱的聪明家伙，”斯通在周六接受电话采访时如此谈论自己的对手。他赞扬了布罗克的时尚品味，说他是个 “精干利落的家伙”，还表示他的发型很像大卫·林奇(David Lynch)在1977年推出的超现实主义恐怖片《橡皮头》(Eraserhead)里的主人公的发型。

But in recent weeks, as sexual assault allegations against former President Bill Clinton surfaced in the campaign, the intersections of Mr. Brock’s past with Mr. Stone’s attacks on the Clintons have made for a deeper kind of intrigue.

但最近几周，随着针对前总统比尔·克林顿(Bill Clinton)的性侵指控在选战中重新被提起，布罗克的过往与斯通针对克林顿夫妇的攻击产生了关联，成就了一种更深层次的阴谋。

Last week, when Mr. Trump brought up a decades-old rape allegation against Mr. Clinton in a Fox News interview, Mrs. Clinton’s allies saw the influence of Mr. Stone. His thinly sourced 2015 book, “The Clintons’ War on Women,” which he wrote with Robert Morrow, focuses on Mr. Clinton’s sexual misconduct and accuses Mrs. Clinton of silencing women who came forward to complain about it.

上周接受Fox新闻频道(Fox News)采访时，特朗普重新提起比尔·克林顿几十年前遭遇的性侵指控。希拉里·克林顿的盟友从中看到了斯通的影响。后者曾在2015年与罗伯特·莫罗 (Robert Morrow)合作出版过一本捕风捉影的书《克林顿夫妇对女性的战争》(The Clintons’ War on Women)，主要谈论比尔·克林顿的性丑闻，并指控希拉里·克林顿对主动控诉这一问题的女性进行压制。

But it is reporting by Mr. Brock that Mr. Stone has used to help Mr. Trump make that case.

然而，斯通用来帮助特朗普证明这一指控的却是布罗克以前所做的报道。

Before Mr. Brock became the man at the center of a multimillion-dollar operation built to defend the Clintons, he was a self-described conservative hit man intent on taking them down. He and Mr. Stone knew each other socially and would occasionally compare notes.

在成为一场投入大把金钱、旨在维护克林顿夫妇名誉的运动的核心人物之前，布罗克曾是一名自封的保守派“打手”，一心要扳倒二人。他和斯通当时就认识，偶尔还会就此交换意见。

Reporting for The American Spectator, a conservative newsmagazine, Mr. Brock asserted in 1994 that Arkansas state troopers facilitated sexual liaisons for Mr. Clinton when he was the state’s governor, allegations that have been central to Mr. Stone’s attacks.

在1994年为保守新闻杂志《美国旁观者》(The American Spectator)所做的报道中，布罗克曾断言阿肯色的州警为时任州长比尔·克林顿的私通行为提供便利。这些指控正是斯通现在用以发起攻击的关键。

“Today, Brock claims his American Spectator stories exposing Bill Clinton were false,” Mr. Stone wrote in his book. “He’s lying.”

“如今，布罗克宣称他当年为《美国旁观者》所做报道中曝光的有关比尔·克林顿的事是假的，”斯通在他的书中写道。“他在撒谎。”

Mr. Brock declined to be interviewed about Mr. Stone.

布罗克拒绝就与斯通有关的问题接受采访。

Mr. Brock now runs Correct the Record, a “super PAC” that coordinates with the Clinton campaign to defend Mrs. Clinton, and American Bridge, a related group that digs up opposition research to defeat Mr. Trump. (Enough to “knock Trump Tower down to the subbasement,” as Mr. Brock put it in remarks to liberal donors, according to Politico.)

布罗克现在打理一家名为“纠正过往”(Correct the Record)的“超级政治行动委员会”和一个名为“美国之桥”(American Bridge)的相关组织。前者配合克林顿的竞选活动，为她辩护；后者则研究对手，挖掘可以打击特朗普的着眼点。（据Politico网站报道，布罗克曾对自由派捐款人说过，这些研究足以“把特朗普大厦打到下层地下室”。）

His mission now will largely be to get inside Mr. Stone’s complicated head to anticipate, and stay ahead of, Mr. Trump’s attacks. Mrs. Clinton’s allies have vehemently denied that she was involved in silencing Mr. Clinton’s accusers, but Mr. Trump will continue to push that assertion as the two candidates battle for the support of female voters.

可以说，他现在的任务就是搞清楚斯通那错综复杂的脑子里在想什么，预测他们接下来会做什么，然后在特朗普发起攻击之前采取行动。克林顿的盟友坚决否认她曾参与压制丈夫的指控者，但在两位候选人正争夺女性选民的支持之际，特朗普会持续强调这一论断。

Both men operate outside the official campaigns, though Mr. Brock directly coordinates with the Clinton campaign through Correct the Record. Mr. Stone said he had “no formal or informal role” within the Trump campaign, but he is close to Mr. Trump and has had a major influence on strategy.

两位男士都在正式竞选团队的外围运作，但布罗克通过“纠正过往”委员会直接配合克林顿的竞选活动。斯通表示，他不曾在特朗普的竞选团队中扮演任何“正式或非正式的角色”，不过他和特朗普关系密切，对他的竞选策略产生了很大的影响。

And both have taken risky moves that have created drama and tensions within the campaigns they are ostensibly helping.

布罗克和斯通都采取了冒险的举动，为这场他们看似在努力助推的竞选活动制造了不少戏剧性和紧张气氛。

Mr. Stone hit a rough patch with Mr. Trump after the first Republican primary debate in August, when he advised Mr. Trump to stop attacking Megyn Kelly of Fox News. Mr. Trump said he had fired his longtime friend and adviser. Mr. Stone said he had quit.

去年8月，共和党第一场初选辩论结束后，斯通和特朗普的关系一度陷入危机。当时他建议特朗普停止攻击Fox新闻频道的主持人梅根·凯利(Megyn Kelly)。特朗普表示，他解雇了这位他长久以来的朋友兼顾问。斯通则声称是自己主动辞职。

Since then, a détente has occurred.

自那之后，两人的关系又改善了。

Mrs. Clinton has embraced Mr. Brock ever since his flattering 1996 biography of the first lady, “The Seduction of Hillary Rodham.” She said his 2002 book, “Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative,” provided evidence of a “vast right-wing conspiracy” against her and her husband.

自从布罗克在1996年出版了那本不乏溢美之词的第一夫人传记《希拉里·罗德姆的魅力》(The Seduction of Hillary Rodham)，克林顿便欣然接受了布罗克。她表示，布罗克2002年推出的《被右派蒙蔽：一位前保守派的良知》(Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative)一书提供了不少证据，可以证明的确存在一个针对她本人和她丈夫的“右翼大阴谋”。

The Clintons encouraged Mr. Brock to start Media Matters, and Mr. Clinton used to hand out copies of “Blinded by the Right” that he kept in the couple’s Chappaqua, N.Y., home.

克林顿夫妇鼓励布罗克创立了“媒体问题”(Media Matters)组织。比尔·克林顿还曾向人赠送《被右翼蒙蔽》这本书，他在夫妇二人位于纽约州查帕阔的家里存放了不少。

As the campaign intensifies, Mr. Brock and Mr. Stone are likely to keep clashing.

随着竞选活动日趋紧张，布罗克和斯通很可能会冲突不断。

When CNN barred Mr. Stone from the network in February, after he had used racial and gender slurs in describing two of the network’s commentators, he accused Mr. Brock of influencing the cable channel.

今年2月，因斯通在描述CNN的两位评论员时使用了带种族和性别侮辱的语言，该有线电视频道对他下了逐客令。斯通于是指责布罗克对CNN施加了影响。

“As Media Matters continues its campaign to highlight the worst of Roger Stone’s history, we encourage other networks to follow suit,” Bradley Beychok, the president of Media Matters, said at the time.

“媒体问题组织会持续展开活动，突显罗杰·斯通最不堪的过去。与此同时，我们也鼓励其他电视台予以跟进，”媒体问题组织的负责人布拉德利·贝乔科(Bradley Beychok)当时说道。

Mr. Stone said the move was all part of Mr. Brock’s “suppression game” with mainstream news outlets that he said were increasingly irrelevant in the social-media era. He wrote on Twitter: “My exposing Bill Clinton’s serial rapes and Hillary’s bullying his victims seems to have gotten under @davidbrockdc’s skin.”

斯通称，这完全是布罗克在利用主流新闻机构对他展开“打压把戏”。斯通曾表示，在社交媒体时代，这些新闻机构越来越无关紧要。他在Twitter上发帖：“因为曝光比尔·克林顿的系列性侵丑闻和希拉里威吓他的受害者，我似乎成了@戴维·布罗克的眼中钉。”

Not long after that, Mr. Brock’s Correct the Record said it would spend $1 million to defend Mrs. Clinton against attacks on social media. Perhaps it will start with Mr. Stone’s Twitter feed.

之后不久，布罗克的“纠正过往”委员会表示，它将投入100万美元，帮助希拉里·克林顿抵御在社交媒体上受到的攻击。或许它可以从斯通在Twitter上的帖子入手。