"[93][94]

General election campaign
Harding begins his front porch campaign by accepting the Republican nomination, July 22, 1920.
The Harding/Coolidge ticket was quickly backed by Republican newspapers, but those of other viewpoints expressed disappointment. The New York World found Harding the least-qualified candidate since James Buchanan, viewing the Ohio senator as a "weak and mediocre" man who "never had an original idea".[95] The Hearst newspapers called Harding "the flag-bearer of a new Senatorial autocracy".[96] The New York Times described the Republican presidential candidate as "a very respectable Ohio politician of the second class".[95]
The Democratic National Convention opened in San Francisco on June 28, 1920, under a shadow cast by Woodrow Wilson, who wished to be nominated for a third term. Delegates were convinced Wilson's health would not permit him to serve, and looked elsewhere for a candidate. Former Treasury Secretary William G. McAdoo was a major contender, but he was Wilson's son-in-law, and refused to consider a nomination so long as the president wanted it. Many at the convention voted for McAdoo anyway, and a deadlock ensued with Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. 