ANDERSON TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WKRC) - Labor Day honors workers and unions, but it also symbolizes the end of summer and the start of fall political campaigns.

Based on Monday's sweltering heat, summer is not quite finished, but based on the political heat, the campaigning is well under way.

Politics is always on the menu at the Cincinnati AFL-CIO Labor Day Picnic, held at Coney Island.

"In fact, we're encouraging people to register to vote because of the purge of the voter registration list. We are making sure that they are registered and ready to vote," said Pamela Brown of the American Federation of Employees.

Because in November 2018, the future could come down to some swing congressional districts, like Ohio's First has now become.

"The majority of the House of Representatives comes right through Cincinnati," said Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Aftab Pureval.

This was the 34th annual Cincinnati Labor Day Picnic. Organized labor leans Democratic, and so all the speakers were Democrats -- candidates who were also out and about meeting some of the 15,000-plus attendees.

"Whether you talk to Republicans, Democrats, Independents, people believe that Washington is toxic, that it's broken, that the leaders that we've sent there have had their chance over and over again, and they've failed us," said Pureval.

The keynote speaker was someone who was in politics long before he was a TV ringmaster: Jerry Springer.

The TV personality and former Cincinnati mayor has long been a liberal political voice. He took swipes at another former TV star, President Donald Trump, and also blasted congressional Republicans who passed Trump's tax cut bill.

"If you're willing to sell the soul of America for a couple of more bucks, then don't ever ask a man, a woman to fight and die for our country, because you don't believe in this country!" Springer said.

Traditionally, Labor Day is seen as the kickoff to the fall campaign, the two-month sprint to Election Day. That's sort of outmoded now. It seems like the next campaign starts right after this election day. But still, Labor Day is symbolically important. And to Democrats, the 2020 campaign starts or, depending on the outcome, ends this November.

"There's no 2020 if we don't do our work in 2018," said Springer.

While the Labor Day Picnic is overwhelmingly Democratic, there is one key issue where a lot of union workers may support Trump: tariffs.

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