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Democrats hoped Harris would save them. She will face defeat on Wednesday


Democrats hoped Harris would save them. She will face defeat on Wednesday

WASHINGTON (AP) — He was once considered a potential savior of the Democratic Party Joe Biden The re-election campaign has stalled Kamala Harris and their followers count on it a deep rejection by American voters in this year's presidential election.

She drags herself in every battleground state To Donald Trumpa man she described as an existential threat to the country's basic institutions. And Trump appears to be on track to win the popular vote for the first time in his three campaigns for the White House – even after two impeachments, felony convictions and an attempt to overturn his previous election loss.

Harris has not yet admitted defeat. She will give a concession speech on Wednesday at 4 p.m., her office said. She will speak at Howard University, her alma mater in Washington, where her supporters watched the repatriations on Tuesday night before being sent home after midnight as Trump prevailed in battleground states. Her campaign announced no plans to speak with Trump.

The result is particularly bitter for Harris because, as sitting vice president, she is expected to oversee the ceremonial certification of the election by Congress.

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Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris (left) speaks with Ike Irby, senior adviser to the vice president, and Kirsten Allen, communications director to the vice president, shortly before taking the stage for Harris' final campaign rally on Monday, November 4, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

It's the same role Mike Pence played four years ago when Trump urged his supporters to march on the US Capitol. Although critics said the violent uprising highlighted Trump's threat to American democracy, which ultimately did not stop voters from electing him again.

Harris became the Democratic nominee after Biden, already struggling to convince voters that he could serve as president until he was 86, stumbled badly in his June 27 debate with Trump.

He dropped out of the race on July 21 and endorsed his running mate, who quickly united the Democratic Party around her candidacy.

Harris faced long odds from the start. She inherited Biden's political lead with just 107 days until the end of the election and faced a restive electorate hungry for change.

Although Harris proposed “a new path forward,” she encountered difficulties to differentiate meaningfully from the unpopular incumbent president. She also had limited time to introduce herself to skeptical voters who had never cast a vote for her in a presidential primary.

Democrats now face the prospect of picking up the pieces during a second Trump presidency, and it's unclear what role Harris will play in her party's future.

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