'Hope but also great fear' as Harris campaign awaits election result

Kamala Harris applauds her staff as they fly back to Washington DC at the end of the campaign trail Credit: AP

In September 1982, an eighteen year old student called Kamala Harris joined Howard University in Washington DC.

She was excited by its ethos of creating black leaders with a belief in social activism.

Forty two years later, that young student will return to Howard as she waits to see if she has succeeded in becoming the 47th president of the United States.

Harris as a student at Howard University, which she says 'helped shape everything I am today' Credit: Instagram/Kamala Harris

Harris says Howard encouraged students to believe they could be anything they wanted, they were young, gifted and black and they shouldn’t allow anything to get in the way of their success.

Kamala Harris (right) at a protest during her student days at Howard University Credit: Instagram/Kamala Harris

Between her and success now are the votes of America’s 244 million voters. In reality, what will really determine whether she succeeds are the votes of far fewer voters in seven swing states.

Over the past weeks she has crisscrossed the nation trying to get her message over to those who will determine her future and the future of this country.

Yet even so, this election is too close to judge.

Speaking to those who know Harris and have been active in Democrat campaign, there is hope but also great fear.

One I spoke with last night told me there was a quiet confidence that she may actually succeed.

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The party have a model of the groups and numbers they need and, at the moment, it seems they are close to the figure which will secure her position.

But memories of 2016 and Hillary Clinton’s defeat are still vivid.

Hilary Clinton during her failed 2016 bid to become America's first female president Credit: AP

That’s why the effort to elect the highest office in the nation is being fought at the most simple level.

Another democrat told me last night they were ringing around their nieces and nephews, telling them to vote and to urge their friends to do the same.

Billions have been spent on election strategy and marketing, but in a campaign this close it is individual engagement that will make a difference.

Even setting aside the inevitable legal challenges, it may take days to know who has won. However, if a few of the key states come back for one candidate, things could become clear tonight.

If so, in the grounds of the university which taught her she could be whatever she wanted, Kamala Harris may learn whether she will become American’s first female president.

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