Dem
47
GOP
53
One of the unfortunate properties of being vice president (other than the bucket of liquid stuff), is that if you run for president and lose, you have to go through the humiliation of announcing your loss to the country on Jan. 6. Just ask Al Gore, Hubert Humphrey or Richard Nixon. OK, Humphrey and Nixon are dead, so Al Gore is the only person alive now who feels Kamala Harris' pain. What could have been, wasn't, and most likely won't be, as the Democrats haven't renominated a loser since 1956 (Adlai Stevenson). Harris took it in stride:
Unlike Donald Trump in 2020, Harris conceded defeat as soon as the AP had called enough states to get Trump to 270 EVs. In the past, that was taken for granted, but in 2020, Trump refused to concede even though multiple sources have said he knew he had lost. This time the count went off smoothly, as it is supposed to. Afterwards, Harris said: "I do believe very strongly that America's democracy is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it. Every single person, their willingness to fight for and respect the importance of our democracy. Otherwise, it is very fragile and it will not be able to withstand moments of crisis. And today, America's democracy stood."
Trump also had something to say yesterday. He plans to fire Colleen Shogan, head of the National Archives, the agency that wanted him to return all the documents he illegally held in his bathroom at Mar-a-Lago. Two models of statesmanship, we suppose. (V)