SALT LAKE CITY _ The people filed out of here, heads shaking a bit. A couple posed next to a sign that said "Decision 2016" and had their selfies snapped _ thumbs turned downward.
Their man had lost _ not the whole election _ but the state of Utah.
Evan McMullin's bid for the presidency was always a long-shot. He wasn't even on the ballot on all 50 states. And yet, the believers waved flags, hugged each other as they said their goodbyes and clung to the only thing they had left _ that they stood on their principles.
McMullin said as much when he spoke for about 10 minutes _ well past 10 p.m. when many of the families who had come to watch saw their sleepy kids curl up on the floor or snooze in cribs _ and told them Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton would never be for them.
But Trump drew most of McMullin's fire.
"We are all human beings created equal," he said. "We all have liberty to pursue happiness in the way we want.
"But tonight there are millions of Americans, I'm sad to say, who are in fear that their liberties will be challenged and threatened under a Trump administration that has made a campaign of targeting people based on their race, their religion and gender. This is why a new conservative movement is necessary."
At one point a voice in the crowd shouted out "2020" and McMullin laughed it off and pivoted to the theme he's been hammering home in recent days _ the continuation of the movement.
It's unclear what that movement is, but McMullin told the crowd that "the Republican Party can no longer be considered the home of conservatives" and said "we are not going away."
But for the night, at least, when McMullin exited the stage, the night wasn't theirs. Not even in Utah.
