Kamala Harris’ favorite place when she studied at Howard University in the 1980s was a large, grass-covered area in the middle of campus called “The Yard.” She stood there and watched the musicians playing instruments and the paramedics leave the lab, the students laughing together. “That was the beauty of Howard,” she wrote in her memoirs. “Every sign was telling the students that we could be anything — we were young, talented, black — and we shouldn’t let anything get in the way of our success.” Forty years later, the courtyard is where Harris hopes to announce her ascension to the American presidency.
But that was not the case. There, yesterday afternoon (November 6), in front of a small crowd of supporters, staff and Howard students, she conceded defeat. Her cheerful tone was unbending. You delivered a defiant message of hope. She said: “My heart is full today, full of gratitude for the trust you have placed in me, full of love for our country and full of determination.” She sought to inspire her supporters to continue the fight against the kind of politics Trump represents, a politics she had left undefined. “Although I acknowledge this election, I do not acknowledge the struggle that fueled this campaign — the struggle for freedom,” she said. “Never stop trying to make the world a better place. You have power. You have power.”
It was surreal. Her positivity created the impression that Harris didn’t really lose, that the whole reason everyone was there was now redundant, and that Republicans didn’t (almost certainly) win the popular vote for the first time since 2004. She regretted the loss, and she didn’t try to wrestle with her reasons. Defeat it. The message was the opposite: keep calm and keep going, stay the course, keep moving forward. She spoke as if nothing had gone wrong and that the strategy had worked. Her conclusion was characteristic of her campaign: “I know a lot of people feel like we’re entering a dark time, but for the sake of all of us, I hope that’s not the case. But America, if it is, let’s fill the sky with the light of a billion bright, sparkling stars.” It was at this moment that people began Those around me are laughing.
Minutes before Harris took the stage, a statement from Senator Bernie Sanders began ringing off attendees’ phones. It was a stinging rebuke of everything she was about to say. It said: “It should come as no surprise that a Democratic Party that has abandoned the working class will find that the working class has abandoned them… While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change.” “They are right,” he said. “Will the big money and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign?… Probably not.”
This was an angry indictment of the Democratic Party. He echoed David Axelrod comment On CNN, the party treats the working class like “citizens” who need to be civilized. Despite his opposition to the US administration supplying weapons to Israel, Sanders supported Harris. But his statement yesterday was the first shot in the struggle over the reasons for the party’s loss, the end of which will determine its direction over the next four years. Dissenters are already criticizing Harris for currying favor with Republicans like Liz Cheney, for tempering Biden’s economic populism, and for relying on shallow and incoherent messaging. Expect a reckoning on Gaza, while some quiet voices raise concerns about the party’s failure to stop the crossing of illegal migrants.
On the other hand, Harris employees have already reported that blame It must fall to Joe Biden’s refusal to step down in a timely manner. But Democrats will face a problem if the focus remains on the timing of Biden’s exit. If Harris had had more time, would she have won? Isn’t there a danger that the more the public learns about her, the worse the outcome will be?
Her concession speech was a signal that the party elite would continue to operate as before, without thinking about the distance between them and large segments of the electorate. After the crowds began pouring out the gates back into downtown Washington, one man said cheerfully to his friend: “You know, I remember Hillary also gave a word.” amazing Concession letter in 2016.”
