Resist or retreat? Democratic voters torn over whether to fight on

CALIFORNIA - Ms Cynthia Shaw worked at a polling place in the Detroit suburbs on election day and went to bed "still hopeful" that Vice-President Kamala Harris could win, she said. By the morning of Nov 6, she was bereft, her head pounding.

"It feels so much more definitive this time," Ms Shaw, 65, said of Donald Trump's victory.

After Trump won the presidency in 2016, many Americans who had opposed him became dedicated activists. They used Facebook to organize marches, joined protests against his policies and formed organizations to recruit liberal candidates for office.

Now that Trump is President-elect once more, preparing to lead a still-divided country that voted more decisively in his favor this time, many of those same people are wondering if they can summon the strength to do it all - or even some of it - over again.

"So many of us are so exhausted," said Ms Shaw, a Democrat who has volunteered in every presidential election since 1992. "I don't mean to be so bleak, but that is how it feels today."

In Arvada, Colorado, Ms Liz Folkestad, 43, allowed herself to stay in bed a little longer than usual on the morning of Nov 6, entertaining fantasies of escape.

"There was definitely an hour when I Googled, 'How to move me and two kids to Portugal'," she said.

But she is not giving up. "My anger drives a fire," she said, adding that, moving forward, "I will engage. I will show up, I will march. There is solace in knowing that you are not alone."

Feelings were raw among many supporters of Ms Harris - some because they had seen promise in her candidacy and hoped to elect the first female president, others because they wanted to deny Trump a second term.

Mr Ken Turco, a real estate photographer in Asheville, North Carolina, stayed up until about 2 a.m. following the election results. After seeing Trump win, he deleted social media and news apps from his cellphone.