Democrats Mourn Kamala Harris’ Loss

The vice president’s defeat places her party back in Donald Trump’s reality, with no clear way out.

Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally.
As results from crucial states started to finalize, the loss began to settle in for Democrats and the Harris allies. Jacquelyn Martin/AP

After months of upheaval, plenty of despair and some joyful optimism, Democrats will soon be out of the White House and a second era of Donald Trump will begin.

Vice President Kamala Harris fell short. President Joe Biden, the furtive leader of the party, will be gone. And after one of the most high-intensity campaigns in modern U.S. political history, there are no obvious answers for how Democrats can find their way back from the political wilderness.

On Tuesday night, Howard University’s Yard was supposed to be filled with proverbial glass, shattered from the highest ceiling in politics. Instead, it was filled with despondent Democrats, pacing around as they confronted the harsh reality that Harris would likely not be successful in her historic bid for the White House.