A night of shattered hopes and dreams for Kamala Harris supporters

The Kamala Harris watch party began with joy and hope, in the grounds of the university she joined 42 years ago, inspired by its ethos of hard work and a belief that dreams can be achieved.

It ended with a brief announcement from her campaign manager telling the crowd the Vice President wouldn’t be making an appearance after all.

They still believed in the dream of America, he said, and would maintain hope until every vote had been counted, but by then the crowd were leaving.

In their hands the banners of a campaign that is ending in failure.

In their hearts a realisation that this country, indeed the world, is returning to a Donald Trump presidency.

Half an hour earlier we saw Nancy Pelosi, the former Speaker of the House and long term supporter of Kamala Harris, arriving for what was expected to be a victory party.

She looked more like she was heading to a funeral but still insisted there was hope. That hope didn’t last long. A few minutes later she was leaving.

She had fought for Harris to stand and was instrumental in convincing President Biden to step aside, compromising a friendship that had endured over decades.

Among the stream of supporters walking through empty streets, groups of young girls who had seen a different future in Harris.

Now they are trying to reconcile to growing up in society where access to abortion and women’s healthcare will be severely restricted.

And that is the change they know about, without question there will be others.

“We thought this was going to be a new era for America” one told me.

It is certainly is, just not in the way she and others had hoped.

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