'I'm thinking about her': Kamala Harris thanks mother in victory speech

Kamala Harris, America's Vice President-elect gave thanks to the country's voters, poll officials, party workers and family in her first prepared remarks after her ticket led by Joe Biden won the White House.

"Every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities," Harris said to wild cheers.

Harris' mother, a central theme in her speeches, came in for special mention.

"When she came here from India at the age of 19. She may not have quite imagined this moment. But she believed so deeply in America, where a moment like this is possible. And so I'm thinking about her."

Dressed in a luminous peach and white pant suit with satin tones, Harris beamed as she walked on stage to the sounds of her favourite hip hop music.

Kamala Harris arrived to deliver her victory speech in what's now America's most famous parking lot in Wilmington, Delaware, in a motorcade flashing red and blue lights, the first sign that the earth has shifted from beneath the Donald Trump-Mike Pence White House.

Early this morning, as relief washed over, Harris stood against the backdrop of a green expanse and called Joe Biden to congratulate him, a video clip that has lit up the Internet. If there was any fatigue, it didn't show at all as Harris took the stage this evening.

Harris and Biden face tough challenges ahead. They have won but like Trump says, 71 million people have voted for him, and a great deal of his votes came in from areas ravaged by the coronavirus. In Trump's grievances, those voters heard their own and stuck with him for the second time in four years.

Harris and Biden are speaking tonight at a drive-in event, which has become a staple of a campaign transformed by the unique challenges of an ongoing pandemic. Supporters sat on top of cars, waved flags and light sabres, whoops of happiness echoed through the evening sky. Masks were ubiquitous, in keeping with the campaign's public health focus.

Delaware is home to Joe Biden and his family, it's also been the place where the Biden campaign hunkered down and waited a full four days since the election on November 3 before they erupted in wild celebration around noon Saturday.

Twice in the span of 12 hours, Kamala Harris made history Saturday. At 11.30 a.m., her name flashed on national television as 'Vice President-elect' and she became the first woman and first Black and Indian American to smash the ultimate glass ceiling in American politics.

At 8 p.m., she got a shot at a victory speech ahead of President-elect Joe Biden in a nod to Harris' barrier-shattering candidacy which has revived hope among everyone hurting from Hillary Clinton's loss to Trump in a fraught election four years ago.

Throughout the day today, Americans poured out in street corners and downtown, enjoying a giant, nationwide version of a block party. They waved from balconies and car windows, honked horns and cowbells, sang and danced, an awesome sight that brought back familiar comparisons to the Obama win in 2008. "It's such an awesome thing to watch the people come out there, grab the wheel of democracy and turn it," David Axelrod, former Obama aide, told CNN.

Kamala Harris, 56, will be second in command to the oldest president ever inaugurated. Biden is 78.

--IANS

nikhila/rt