The Miscalculations That Sent Kamala Harris to a Devastating Loss

Vi bringer denne artikel på engelsk som et led i Berlingskes samarbejde med The Wall Street Journal. Her campaign misread an electorate that was more wound up about inflation and immigration than about Donald Trump’s character.

Vicepræsident Kamala Harris efter at have holdt sin tale onsdag, dagen efter amerikanerne stemte, hvor hun erkendte sit nederlag til Donald Trump. Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Ritzau Scanpix

Kamala Harris ’s advisers felt like they couldn’t believe their luck.

Heading into Election Day, Donald Trump kept making controversial comments they thought would play right into their strategy of showing voters he was unfit for another term. They were optimistic the vice president was on the precipice of victory in a race they viewed as on a knife’s edge. Her final campaign appearance, on the iconic Philadelphia steps from Sylvester Stallone’s »Rocky,« would cap the arc of an underdog’s rise.