Harris voters mourn loss after sobering concession speech: 'There's nothing left' | US elections 2024

TThe mood on the Howard University campus was calm and sober as people waited to hear Vice President Kamala Harris' concession speech Wednesday afternoon. An area that is normally the central focus of campus life, the Yard, was largely filled with Harris campaign staff, media and members of the public.

Harris arrived about 25 minutes after her scheduled time and opened with a message about unity, community building and coalitions. “My heart is full today,” Harris said. “Full of heart and soul for my country and full of determination.

“Hear me when I say that the light of America’s promise will always burn bright. As long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting.”

Harris encouraged young people to recognize their power and believe in the impossible. “In this time, it is necessary that people do not become complacent,” she added, “but commit themselves to organizing and mobilizing.” Harris encouraged her followers to embrace “the light of optimism” and service.

“Hear me when I say that the light of America’s promise will always burn bright. As long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting.”

Harris' supporters expressed shock, sadness and disillusionment as they reflected on the harrowing hours since the election of Republican nominee Donald Trump. Instead of feeling motivated to build resistance movements, voters said they needed time to rest and restart before they could consider next steps after the election.

“It revealed to me the heart of who we are as a nation,” said 47-year-old Janeen Davis, a county government employee. “It takes away my pride. As an Indigenous person, it hits me hard. Our democracy is based on our indigenous ancestors … and so much has been taken away from the indigenous community, and now with that at stake, it's like there's nothing left.” Davis said she fears political violence from Trump supporters , if his opponents now opposed his presidency. “My personal opinion depends on how the transition took place in the last election,” Davis said. “The best thing we can do is be quiet now.”

Patricia McDougall, a 63-year-old Howard University employee, said she was sad. She believed that if Harris had won, she would have supported immigrants and contributed to the fight for women's reproductive rights. “As an immigrant (from Belize) myself, I feel sorry for the people who are left behind,” McDougall said. “I thought she would move the needle and help people.”

As United Nations ambassador, McDougall expressed concern about Trump's future foreign policy moves, adding that “his mouth is destroying him.”

“We’re all excited to see what he’s going to do and how he’s going to do.”

Davis also worried that Trump's presidency could spell disaster for foreign relations. With exit polls showing how divided the electorate is, Davis warned: “A nation divided cannot stand, so it will make us more vulnerable to external threats.”

Despite her defeat, voters said they were proud of Harris and her campaign team for what they accomplished in the months since taking over Joe Biden's campaign after he dropped out of the race over the summer. Nadia Brown, a political science professor at Georgetown University and a graduate of Howard University, had been watching election results pour in from campus on election night. Returning to the scene after Harris' crushing defeat was sobering, but she was in a place of acceptance and felt no sadness.

For Brown, she said the election results “raise larger questions about what the Democratic Party needs to do to maintain the core voting bloc.” She found that the concerns of young people and progressives speaking out against Israel's war on Gaza, where more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since last October, were not taken seriously. Brown also questioned the Democratic Party's strategy, saying, “The base was not strengthened before it turned to swing voters, the Republicans who were never Trump supporters.”

Looking forward, Brown said the Democratic Party needs to rethink its outreach strategy. “Black women in particular did a great job. “I have no regrets or anger at the way black women have shown up,” she said. “But now it’s about how (the party) reaches out to some of the other people.”

Read more of the Guardian's coverage of the 2024 US election