ABSTRACT
In the mid-20th century, the kickoff for the presidential election began on Labor Day. Thus, on Labor Day in 1960, Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy gave a speech in Detroit, courting the important labor vote. He was following in the footsteps of Harry Truman and Adlai Stevenson who also gave Labor Day addresses in Detroit in the 1940s and 1950s. Today, a presidential candidate who waits until September to start the general election campaign would be well behind. As today’s presidential nominations are typically won midway through the primary season, the general election no longer starts in the fall. The 21st-century general election campaign has a spring, summer, and fall season. Long before the national conventions, candidates are well into preparations for the general election campaign, beefing up their campaign staff, testing out campaign themes, conducting opposition research, and starting their campaign trips and airing of campaign commercials.
