Staff Reports
As the clock ticked past midnight in Washington D.C., Vice President Kamala Harris found herself absent from the very party meant to celebrate her political fate. Instead of raiding the stage, her campaign chair, Cedric Richmond, took it upon himself to deliver the kind of pep talk that might have been best suited for a half-time show, rather than a potential electoral victory. It seems the night was getting long, and Ms. Harris felt it was better to leave the crowd hanging until morning. Instead of an exuberant appearance, Richmond informed the small and thinning crowd at Howard University that the vice president would address them later—presumably after some much-needed beauty sleep.
The audience was crammed with supporters expecting a jubilant Harris, but what they got was Richmond promising that the campaign would “monitor the vote.” It’s hard to ignore the feeling that this moment echoed the iconic 2016 campaign of Hillary Clinton, when her campaign chair replaced her on stage after the inevitable loss became apparent. This glaring déjà vu wasn’t lost on Trump adviser Stephen Miller, who couldn’t help but poke fun at Harris’s absence, implying it was a slap-in-the-face to her own empowerment rhetoric.
While Richmond was doing everything possible to keep spirits alive, outside influences were determining that the night just wasn’t going Harris’s way. As the stakes grew lower, the Trump campaign was calling states left and right, with North Carolina and Georgia already in the bag, while Harris’s supporters were left to contemplate their own political demise. The numbers suggested it was about as likely for Harris to win big in Florida and Pennsylvania as it was for chuckling cats to take back the Internet.
Vice President Kamala Harris didn't appear at her watch party as it neared 1 a.m. Eastern time Wednesday and instead will address supporters later in the morning. https://t.co/Tq0pHObQMM
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) November 6, 2024
The jovial atmosphere took a nosedive once North Carolina flipped to Trump, sending the dance floor into a panic. Reports from partygoers indicated that cheers quickly turned to silence, leaving behind a crowd in disbelief. Malika Washington, a young Harris supporter, felt an unsettling fear creep upon her—a sentiment that seemed palpable in the room as people silently processed the grim news unfolding on a large TV screen. The excitement from earlier became a distant memory as everyone quietly contemplated the possibility that this ‘victory party’ had devolved into a wake for their hopes.
As the iconic “Black National Anthem” echoed through the university’s Yard, the gathering transformed from a celebration into a solemn vigil for what many expected to be Harris’s victory. By the time 11 p.m. rolled around, the reveling had ceased; the gospel choir was replaced by CNN’s sobering updates, peeling away the last shreds of hope. All signs pointed to one thing—this was not going to end well for the Harris camp. When the station cut away to show the stunned faces in the crowd instead of continuing to line up Biden’s potential victories, it became clear that the morning was likely to bring even more bad news than good. It was a tough night for Democrats, proving once again that elections can often be as unpredictable as a cat’s meandering path across a busy highway.
