Democrats fall into despondency following Trump's victory
Certain individuals within Harris' campaign started preparing themselves for the possibility of loss.
TroibNews 
Democrats are facing their worst fears once again.
As Election Day turned into Wednesday, it became clear that the party was set for a repeat of 2016. Donald Trump was exceeding his 2020 performance nationwide and had secured vital battleground states like Pennsylvania and Georgia. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris was having difficulty replicating Joe Biden’s success in various regions—struggling in light-blue areas that had shifted Democratic in 2020 and in solid red territories where Trump had expanded his lead.
With each swing state that fell to Trump, Democrats' anxiety shifted to shock, despair, and ultimately acceptance: Harris was on track to lose.
“Really never fully took in that this could happen again,” remarked a former Democratic Party official who requested anonymity. “It is beyond any words I can use to describe.”
The warning signs for Harris were evident even before most state results came in. Exit polls indicated Trump was gaining ground with Black male voters in North Carolina and Georgia, and he managed to reclaim Georgia from Democrats early in the night. Nationally, Harris was underperforming with Hispanic and young voters compared to Biden in 2020, according to exit poll data. Those polls even revealed that so-called double-haters—voters with unfavorable opinions of both candidates—were leaning towards Trump.
As Trump continued to tally victories across the map, preliminary results showed that he had outperformed his 2020 margins in about 92 percent of the more than 2,500 counties reporting 95% of the vote, based on a PMG analysis of Associated Press data. This included gains in traditionally Democratic strongholds, such as his former home in New York City. In contrast, Harris was falling short of Biden’s results in important counties he captured four years prior, including Pennsylvania’s Lackawanna County, Biden's hometown of Scranton.
“He expanded his base a little and they came out,” said Neil Oxman, a Pennsylvania-based Democratic strategist. He added that this, combined with Harris’ underperformance, “is the difference in switching a state.”
As Harris’ potential routes to the White House narrowed with every passing moment, the atmosphere within her campaign and among Democrats increasingly darkened.
To mitigate concerns, Harris’ campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon, sent out a memo to staff late Tuesday night stating, “We have known all along that our clearest path to 270 electoral votes lies through the Blue Wall states. And we feel good about what we’re seeing.”
Just two hours later, however, Harris did not attend her own party gathering at Howard University, where the mood was already turning sour. A clip of Beyoncé’s “Freedom,” which had been used as her campaign walk-out song, was met with groans, and attempts to rally “Kamala” chants fell flat.
As former Rep. Cedric Richmond, a co-chair of Harris’ campaign, took the stage to end what had been hoped as a victory celebration, some campaign members were still clinging to hope that uncounted ballots would favor Harris. Others, however, had started to prepare for loss.
“We still have votes to count, we still have states that have not been called yet,” Richmond told the discouraged crowd. “We will continue overnight to fight to make sure that every vote is counted, that every voice has spoken.”
But he warned, “you won’t hear from the vice president tonight. You will hear from her tomorrow.”
Outside of Washington, many Democrats were swiftly losing confidence in Harris’ ability to fortify the party’s defenses.
It “feels more like 2016 than 2020,” remarked Rep. Jared Huffman, a California Democrat. “That’s what’s troubling,” he added. “Those of us that had hoped for a resounding repatriation of Trump, we’re left to hope for a nail biter through the Blue Wall.”
Some Democrats attempted to urge calm—“everybody fucking relax,” said Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, “there’s still a ton of votes to get through”—but their reassurances were falling on increasingly deaf ears. Reflecting back on the beginning of Harris’ campaign, one Democratic operative pondered, “Is it brat to lose an election?”
By the time Pennsylvania was called for Trump, Democrats were left analyzing where Harris went wrong. Many strategists concluded that the unfavorable views of the direction of the country and the economy under Biden, coupled with Trump’s continued appeal, were simply insurmountable for Harris.
“She did a really good job. But I think, in retrospect, this race was unwinnable,” stated Democratic pollster Paul Maslin. “Trump, rightly or wrongly, his persona and his fundamental attack line against the condition of the country, the Biden-Harris administration and frankly the Democratic Party, was in the end unbeatable.”
As dawn approached, the blame game began. Mark Longabaugh, a seasoned Democratic strategist who had previously advised Sen. Bernie Sanders, remarked that Harris was given the leadership role “too late” in a “tough environment.” Jeff Weaver, another Sanders veteran, suggested that the Democratic Party needs to “reestablish its relationship with the working-class people.”
John Morgan, a significant Biden fundraiser who had criticized Harris' candidacy and withheld his financial support, expressed a sense of relief.
"Relief that I'm not crazy, that I wasn’t crazy. That I saw the trains coming and screamed get the f— out of the way," he commented. "Like the coyote and the road runner, they just stepped right in front of the train. ... Road Runner is Donald Trump, beep beep, and that’s the end of the movie."
Jessica Piper, Holly Otterbein, Adam Wren, Mia McCarthy, and Myah Ward contributed to this report.
Anna Muller contributed to this report for TROIB News
As Election Day turned into Wednesday, it became clear that the party was set for a repeat of 2016. Donald Trump was exceeding his 2020 performance nationwide and had secured vital battleground states like Pennsylvania and Georgia. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris was having difficulty replicating Joe Biden’s success in various regions—struggling in light-blue areas that had shifted Democratic in 2020 and in solid red territories where Trump had expanded his lead.
With each swing state that fell to Trump, Democrats' anxiety shifted to shock, despair, and ultimately acceptance: Harris was on track to lose.
“Really never fully took in that this could happen again,” remarked a former Democratic Party official who requested anonymity. “It is beyond any words I can use to describe.”
The warning signs for Harris were evident even before most state results came in. Exit polls indicated Trump was gaining ground with Black male voters in North Carolina and Georgia, and he managed to reclaim Georgia from Democrats early in the night. Nationally, Harris was underperforming with Hispanic and young voters compared to Biden in 2020, according to exit poll data. Those polls even revealed that so-called double-haters—voters with unfavorable opinions of both candidates—were leaning towards Trump.
As Trump continued to tally victories across the map, preliminary results showed that he had outperformed his 2020 margins in about 92 percent of the more than 2,500 counties reporting 95% of the vote, based on a PMG analysis of Associated Press data. This included gains in traditionally Democratic strongholds, such as his former home in New York City. In contrast, Harris was falling short of Biden’s results in important counties he captured four years prior, including Pennsylvania’s Lackawanna County, Biden's hometown of Scranton.
“He expanded his base a little and they came out,” said Neil Oxman, a Pennsylvania-based Democratic strategist. He added that this, combined with Harris’ underperformance, “is the difference in switching a state.”
As Harris’ potential routes to the White House narrowed with every passing moment, the atmosphere within her campaign and among Democrats increasingly darkened.
To mitigate concerns, Harris’ campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon, sent out a memo to staff late Tuesday night stating, “We have known all along that our clearest path to 270 electoral votes lies through the Blue Wall states. And we feel good about what we’re seeing.”
Just two hours later, however, Harris did not attend her own party gathering at Howard University, where the mood was already turning sour. A clip of Beyoncé’s “Freedom,” which had been used as her campaign walk-out song, was met with groans, and attempts to rally “Kamala” chants fell flat.
As former Rep. Cedric Richmond, a co-chair of Harris’ campaign, took the stage to end what had been hoped as a victory celebration, some campaign members were still clinging to hope that uncounted ballots would favor Harris. Others, however, had started to prepare for loss.
“We still have votes to count, we still have states that have not been called yet,” Richmond told the discouraged crowd. “We will continue overnight to fight to make sure that every vote is counted, that every voice has spoken.”
But he warned, “you won’t hear from the vice president tonight. You will hear from her tomorrow.”
Outside of Washington, many Democrats were swiftly losing confidence in Harris’ ability to fortify the party’s defenses.
It “feels more like 2016 than 2020,” remarked Rep. Jared Huffman, a California Democrat. “That’s what’s troubling,” he added. “Those of us that had hoped for a resounding repatriation of Trump, we’re left to hope for a nail biter through the Blue Wall.”
Some Democrats attempted to urge calm—“everybody fucking relax,” said Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, “there’s still a ton of votes to get through”—but their reassurances were falling on increasingly deaf ears. Reflecting back on the beginning of Harris’ campaign, one Democratic operative pondered, “Is it brat to lose an election?”
By the time Pennsylvania was called for Trump, Democrats were left analyzing where Harris went wrong. Many strategists concluded that the unfavorable views of the direction of the country and the economy under Biden, coupled with Trump’s continued appeal, were simply insurmountable for Harris.
“She did a really good job. But I think, in retrospect, this race was unwinnable,” stated Democratic pollster Paul Maslin. “Trump, rightly or wrongly, his persona and his fundamental attack line against the condition of the country, the Biden-Harris administration and frankly the Democratic Party, was in the end unbeatable.”
As dawn approached, the blame game began. Mark Longabaugh, a seasoned Democratic strategist who had previously advised Sen. Bernie Sanders, remarked that Harris was given the leadership role “too late” in a “tough environment.” Jeff Weaver, another Sanders veteran, suggested that the Democratic Party needs to “reestablish its relationship with the working-class people.”
John Morgan, a significant Biden fundraiser who had criticized Harris' candidacy and withheld his financial support, expressed a sense of relief.
"Relief that I'm not crazy, that I wasn’t crazy. That I saw the trains coming and screamed get the f— out of the way," he commented. "Like the coyote and the road runner, they just stepped right in front of the train. ... Road Runner is Donald Trump, beep beep, and that’s the end of the movie."
Jessica Piper, Holly Otterbein, Adam Wren, Mia McCarthy, and Myah Ward contributed to this report.
Anna Muller contributed to this report for TROIB News
