CNN
—
It was supposed to be everything short of a free ad – a panel of women not containing their excitement to welcome Kamala Harris, ready to introduce her to their committed daytime audience of exactly the type of women the vice president’s campaign always hoped were going to be critical to her base.
It was a moment that encapsulated one of the biggest challenges facing her campaign – which, in the end, proved insurmountable.
“What, if anything, would you have done something differently than President Biden during the past four years?” co-host of ABC’s “The View” Sunny Hostin asked Harris, looking to give her a set for her to spike over the net.
“There is not a thing that comes to mind,” she said.
Even Harris realized she had a problem, trying to adjust a moment later by saying she would put a Republican in her Cabinet.
Aides didn’t wait until Harris was off the set to start trying to clean it up. A Democrat who had spoken with her told CNN at the time that she didn’t want to name her differences with President Joe Biden – including a higher capital gains tax rate, a bigger child tax credit and a tougher border policy – because she thought it would look disloyal to the man who had picked her as his running mate and then stepped aside for her.
The thud fell in a campaign already struggling with a listless October, which had replaced the late summer exuberance and a September debate that nearly every political observer other than Donald Trump acknowledged she crushed. As aides new to the Harris orbit exerted control, she struggled with preparation. She grew hesitant, losing some of the confidence and swagger that had defined the early weeks of her reintroduction to the country. Aides who had successfully pushed her out of her comfort zone earlier in the year felt like they were running into the kind of walls she used to put up.
CNN spoke with over a dozen senior Harris campaign aides both in the Wilmington, Delaware, campaign headquarters and on the ground in the states, as well as multiple volunteers and local elected officials, over the course of the final weeks of the race.
A country crying out for change got a candidate who, at a crucial moment as more voters were tuning in, decided to soft-pedal the change she knew she represented.
In the scope of a Democratic ticket that pulled off the biggest turnaround in approval ratings and the fastest consolidation around a new candidate in the history of modern presidential politics, this may have seemed like a minor moment. But it reflected deeper problems: some, like with the staff around her, that she might have been able to adjust; and one, with Biden, that she could never shake, with internal polls showing overwhelming majorities of voters thought the country was on the wrong track.
By the time Harris got a clearer, sharper contrast answer out on the Biden question, the situation had congealed in ways she never got past – both among voters wavering in the center who wanted to hear her rebuff the president on his handling of the economy and voters on the left who wanted to hear her more forcefully disavow Biden’s support for Israel.
But perhaps the bigger problem with Biden, top Democrats fumed in the aftermath of that fateful debate in June and then again as they watched the results turn red on Tuesday, is that he should have never been anywhere near the 2024 race. If he had stepped aside after the midterms, as some aides urged him to, the Democratic Party process could have played out in a primary campaign. Candidates’ kinks could have been worked out – or not. Almost certainly whoever emerged as the nominee would have gone into the final weeks without so many Americans complaining they didn’t know enough, as they said about Harris. Biden could have taken on a role as steward and elder statesman, rather than a guy the Harris campaign never knew quite what do with.
If the election had been two weeks ago, senior aides to Harris were admitting in recent days, the vice president probably would have lost. But they went into Tuesday feeling like she had gotten herself to a likely squeaker victory. One-on-one conversations volunteers were having as they knocked on doors seemed to be clicking. For the first time in his nine years dominating American politics, Trump’s character seemed to be breaking through as an actual weight on people who wanted to vote for him.
Leading Democrats smiled just thinking about what it would mean to beat Trump with the first female president — a woman of color, a child of two immigrants, a prosecutor, and a candidate who talked about joy and offered up her smile against the scowl that had become his most common expression. Her candidacy sparked in them the unfamiliar feeling of hope.
That sentiment evaporated by 11 p.m. on Tuesday. But for many anxious Democrats, this is just the beginning. Going into Election Day, many top Democratic operatives across the campaign and in the states told CNN different versions of the same thought: If this didn’t work – with the massive campaign they’d put together, with millions of doors knocked by volunteers who flooded into battleground states, with GOP former Rep. Liz Cheney and former President Bill Clinton united under the same tent stumping hard for her, with celebrities from Bad Bunny and Arnold Schwarzenegger throwing their cultural weight behind her – what will?
tied with three votes each in the tiny New Hampshire township.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”3712″ width=”5568″ loading=’lazy’/>
a surprise appearance on “Saturday Night Live” on November 2. “You got this,” Harris told her “SNL” alter ego, played by Maya Rudolph.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”2933″ width=”4398″ loading=’lazy’/>
assailing the US island territory, calling it a “floating pile of garbage.”” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”3947″ width=”5926″ loading=’lazy’/>
He was seizing on a garbled remark by President Joe Biden that seemed to insult Trump voters as “garbage.” Biden has personally denied calling Trump supporters “garbage,” saying his comment on a video call was misinterpreted. The White House, on cleanup duty, insisted the president was only talking about one person, the comedian who called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage” during a Trump rally.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”2160″ width=”3000″ loading=’lazy’/>
her “closing argument” one week before the election.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”3529″ width=”5708″ loading=’lazy’/>
campaign rally in Houston on October 25.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1600″ width=”2400″ loading=’lazy’/>
from undecided and persuadable voters in the battleground state. Trump was invited to a CNN town hall but declined to participate.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”3958″ width=”6000″ loading=’lazy’/>
stayed on stage for more than 30 minutes as music played, occasionally making brief remarks between songs.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1995″ width=”3000″ loading=’lazy’/>
campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on October 5. Trump was returning to the same venue where he narrowly survived an assassination attempt in July.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”2000″ width=”3000″ loading=’lazy’/>
said she would be “proudly” casting her vote for Harris.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1600″ width=”2400″ loading=’lazy’/>
vice presidential debate at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York on October 1. The matchup between Vance, the 40-year-old Ohio senator, and Walz, the 60-year-old Minnesota governor, took place in New York without a live audience.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1600″ width=”2400″ loading=’lazy’/>
an apparent assassination attempt on Trump — the second time in two months there’s been an apparent attempt on his life. Trump, who was playing golf at the time, was not harmed. A Secret Service agent spotted a rifle barrel with a scope sticking out of the fence of the golf course and “immediately engaged” with the person, firing shots at the man, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”2787″ width=”4181″ loading=’lazy’/>
marking the 23rd anniversary of the September 11 attacks.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1600″ width=”2400″ loading=’lazy’/>
presidential debate with Harris on September 10. The debate, which took place in Philadelphia, was the first time Trump and Harris had met.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1668″ width=”2500″ loading=’lazy’/>
Harris’ first in-depth interview with a major media outlet since she became the Democratic nominee.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1996″ width=”3000″ loading=’lazy’/>
threw his support behind Trump.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1601″ width=”2400″ loading=’lazy’/>
Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 22. Ajagu is one of Harris’ young grandnieces. Harris is the first Black woman and first Asian American to lead a major-party ticket. If elected, she would be the first woman and Indian American president.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”3600″ width=”2400″ loading=’lazy’/>
wore white, the color associated with the suffragette movement.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1667″ width=”2500″ loading=’lazy’/>
“the honor of my life.”” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”3125″ width=”4687″ loading=’lazy’/>
He told the crowd that he is “feeling hopeful” because Harris is ready to step into the White House. “This convention has always been pretty good to kids with funny names who believe in a country where anything is possible,” Obama said. “Because we have a chance to elect someone who has spent her entire life trying to give people the same chances America gave her.”” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”5504″ width=”8256″ loading=’lazy’/>
his first news conference since the Democratic ticket was announced. Over about an hour, Trump fielded a variety of questions and swerved into familiar talking points.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1600″ width=”2400″ loading=’lazy’/>
their first joint campaign rally in Philadelphia on August 6.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1667″ width=”2500″ loading=’lazy’/>
addresses the nation from the White House Oval Office on July 24, explaining his decision not to seek reelection. It’s the first time a one-term US president has dropped out of a reelection run in decades. “I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future all merited a second term,” said Biden, who had been fighting for his political life after a disastrous debate performance in June. “But nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy. That includes personal ambition. So, I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. It’s the best way to unite our nation.”” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1600″ width=”2400″ loading=’lazy’/>
her first campaign rally in West Allis, Wisconsin, on July 23. The former US senator from California, who previously served as the state’s attorney general, was endorsed by Biden to be his successor.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1921″ width=”2880″ loading=’lazy’/>
endorsing Harris for president on July 23. “Kamala Harris and her candidacy has excited and energized the House Democratic Caucus, the Democratic Party and the nation,” Jeffries said.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1600″ width=”2401″ loading=’lazy’/>
Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 18. At the convention, Trump formally accepted his party’s presidential nomination for a third straight election. His keynote speech came five days after he survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. “I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty God,” he said.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1600″ width=”2400″ loading=’lazy’/>
Vance was announced as Trump’s vice presidential pick two days earlier.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1600″ width=”2400″ loading=’lazy’/>
In a speech from the Oval Office later than day, he called on the country to “lower the temperature in our politics” following the assassination attempt on Trump.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1600″ width=”2400″ loading=’lazy’/>
assassination attempt, according to law enforcement. The shooter was killed by the Secret Service, the agency said. The FBI identified the shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, and authorities told CNN that he was positioned on a building rooftop just outside the rally venue. One rally attendee, Corey Comperatore, was killed, and two others were critically injured.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1600″ width=”2400″ loading=’lazy’/>
She often defended Biden in the weeks following his debate with Trump.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1600″ width=”2399″ loading=’lazy’/>
The court ruled that Trump may claim immunity from criminal prosecution for some of the actions he took in the waning days of his presidency.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1600″ width=”2400″ loading=’lazy’/>
CNN presidential debate on June 27. It was the first time in history that a sitting US president faced a former president in a debate. Biden’s poor performance set off alarm bells among top Democrats, leaving some to openly question whether he could stay atop the Democratic ticket.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1600″ width=”2400″ loading=’lazy’/>
Biden appeared to struggle with his delivery at multiple points during the debate. At 81, he is the oldest president in history, and he would have been 86 at the end of a second term. The debate offered a key test for the president to exhibit vigor and energy — and Democratic sources reacting to the debate described emotions ranging from concern to straight-up panic about Biden’s biggest vulnerability.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1073″ width=”1576″ loading=’lazy’/>
Trump led House Republicans through a gripe-filled closed-door meeting, airing grievances about his legal and electoral challenges, attacking his critics in the room, and only briefly addressing policy matters like abortion and taxes, according to multiple GOP lawmakers in the room. It was Trump’s first time returning to the Capitol campus area since leaving office after the January 6, 2021, riot.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1581″ width=”2400″ loading=’lazy’/>
he was found guilty in his hush money trial on May 30. It was the first time in history that a former US president had been convicted of a felony. A jury found Trump guilty on 34 charges of falsifying business records. Prosecutors alleged that the former president engaged in a cover-up scheme to hide reimbursement payments made to his former attorney, Michael Cohen, who had paid hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels to stop her from going public about a past affair with Trump before the 2016 presidential election. Trump has denied the affair.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1601″ width=”2400″ loading=’lazy’/>
a campaign fundraising event at New York’s Radio City Music Hall on March 28.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1600″ width=”2400″ loading=’lazy’/>
The rare joint appearance highlighted the emphasis that the duo would place on health care, which they believe is a winning issue for Democrats ahead of November’s election.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1600″ width=”2401″ loading=’lazy’/>
suspending her presidential campaign on March 6. Haley made the announcement after a series of losses on Super Tuesday, and it left Trump as the presumptive GOP nominee.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1566″ width=”2400″ loading=’lazy’/>
in the form of an “uncommitted” protest vote: change course on Israel’s approach to the war in Gaza or risk losing a significant chunk of support in what could be a decisive general election state.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1600″ width=”2400″ loading=’lazy’/>
Trump declared himself a “proud political dissident” at CPAC, telling a conservative gathering that his reelection would be “liberation day” for his supporters and “judgment day” for his political enemies.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1600″ width=”2400″ loading=’lazy’/>
he dropped out of the race ahead of the New Hampshire primary.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1600″ width=”2405″ loading=’lazy’/>
The caucuses were the coldest ever, with temperatures below zero across much of the state.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1600″ width=”2133″/>
CNN debate in Des Moines, Iowa, on January 10.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1600″ width=”2400″/>
In pictures: A historic race for the White House
“I can’t imagine, I can’t even get my mind around what it would be like if Donald Trump won, because he is telling us such dark and sinister things that he’s going to do, and I believe him,” Sen. Cory Booker told CNN after a campaign stop late Monday afternoon in Bucks County, Pennsylvania – one of the key swing districts in the crucial battleground state.
The New Jersey Democrat said he had already warned his own staff about not giving up.
“We need to get up the next morning and forge forward,” Booker said. “I told them how much I don’t like hearing people say, ‘Oh, if so-and-so wins, I’m going to go to Canada. That’s just not our history. We’ve seen really bad outcomes out of bad historical events in our country, and we’re here because of the resiliency, the toughness, the strength of our country — and people even in the worst of times dug in and tried to do the best for our country.”
Simmering internal fights and a revealing pick in Walz
Harris’ team would have gladly taken more time to introduce the vice president to the country, or to put together an operation, which, after the ticket switch in July, woke up every morning at campaign headquarters and in the states feeling behind on planning.
But by the time the campaign pulled off its multi-state simultaneous rally across battleground states Monday evening – which ended with Lady Gaga singing her song “The Edge of Glory” and adding in, “I’m an American woman on the edge” on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art – a nervous feeling of maybe having made a movement happen was spreading among Harris aides and top supporters.
Those aides were a hodgepodge. Biden hadn’t just struggled as a candidate, but had failed to attract some top talent to his campaign because a generation of up-and-coming Democrats could never get excited about him. Harris tried to graft some of her own team onto them, even overlooking tensions between them from the early days of the Biden administration with campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon and keeping her in charge.
But some of those who had been in Wilmington for a year before Harris became the candidate bucked at their new bosses. Alumni of Barack Obama – most prominently his 2008, campaign manager David Plouffe, but also many others who moved into state operations – tried to flex a sometimes dated but often more incisive sense of how to win voters.
Along the way, multiple aides told CNN how much they were grinding on one another. But the mission to beat Trump and the short timeline to try to get there helped paper over a lot of the infighting that might have exploded in a longer campaign. It instead just raged behind the scenes as aides like Stephanie Cutter moved to exert dominance over defining how and what Harris said what she said.
And those tensions manifested from almost the start of this short campaign, in the internal wrangling over who Harris should pick as her running mate. The case for Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was strong, and not just because Harris’ brother-in-law Tony West was telling her they looked like the future of the Democratic Party together, and that the popular governor would make sure she won Pennsylvania. Right-wing media types weren’t the only ones who noticed how much Shapiro had made himself into an Obama clone, as much a Jewish guy from the Philadelphia suburbs could be: The Obama alumni suddenly rushing onto her campaign were pushing for Shapiro.
Harris liked Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, though. She liked his line about Republicans being weird. She liked the way he came off as easy and unassuming. She liked the way they’d gotten along in their interview, including his very open stress that he would mess up in a debate with Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. And she liked the way Walz had been so deferential to however she would define the job for him.
In the end, Harris made a decision that simultaneously reflected her newfound confidence and her long-standing insecurity, solid with trusting her own instincts, fine with going against her family and against the Obama orbit, but also with no interest in having anyone who would possibly outshine her.
Then, as top aides kept Harris away from interviews and unscripted moments for weeks longer than many on the campaign thought made sense, Walz was necessarily kept in a box too, so that he didn’t come off more accessible than she was.
Tuesday morning, outside a canvas launch in northeast Philadelphia, Shapiro deflected a question about whether Pennsylvania — and the race — would have looked different had he been the choice.
“I think she made a great pick in Tim Walz,” he said.
Biden, most Democrats were confident going into Tuesday, would have never even been in contention. The president watched the results come in from the White House, making a few calls to local winning candidates back in Delaware. Some who spoke with him as he made the decision to drop out in July briefly lingered on what might have been – maybe he could have won by keeping his numbers even in counties where he ended up outperforming Harris, or if he’d lost anyway, at least it wouldn’t have put the burden on a Black woman. He said nothing publicly.
Harris ran on positivity. She ran on inclusivity. She convinced a party full of insiders who had gone into the year ready to write her off for the 2028 Democratic nomination that they should go all in on her for 2024.
At the beginning of the night Tuesday, when victory seemed just hours away, the people who came to what was supposed to be Harris’ celebration were dancing. A Howard University graduate seemed about to walk into history in the heart of her old HBCU campus. At one point, the camera found the student body president in the crowd and she blushed as she saw herself projected on the big screen. Anticipation mounted and cheers went out with every state called for Harris.
Seconds after North Carolina was called for Trump, the audio was switched off the big screens and music blasted through the speakers to try to salvage the energy. Most kept staring silently at the numbers, trying to make sense of what had happened.
In state capitals with Democratic governors, break-glass plans that they had started to believe they would never need are getting yanked off the shelves – to protect access to abortion medications, but also to work up other protections from what they believe will be not just a stringent, but vindictive, administration. Early thoughts about who will be running and how in 2028 are starting to circulate.
That was not on the minds of the people who started streaming out of the Howard campus early Wednesday before campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond had even finished telling them that there was still counting to be done.
“We try to do it right, we try to be good Christians,” one woman said to the man walking with her. “We’ve got to take a page out of their book.”
