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C-SPAN's 'Road to the White House 2016' starts tomorrow

For those who still think it's too soon to be talking about 2016 ... tough luck.

On Friday, C-SPAN will start branding events with likely presidential hopefuls as "Road to the White House 2016." The series starts tomorrow with footage of speeches by Vice President Joe Biden and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in South Carolina, and will continue with other events later this month.

(PHOTOS: 2016: Who's next?)

This is an unusually early start date for the series, which normally gets under way about two years ahead of Election Day. C-SPAN's "Road to the White House 2012" didn't start until Aug. 3, 2010, when the network interviewed Republican hopefuls Newt Gingrich and Tim Pawlenty. Between then and the election, it aired 552 events — including speeches, debates, conventions, etc. — that came under the "Road to the White House" brand.

News organizations have been hyping the 2016 presidential contest since before the 2012 election, and not a day goes by where there isn't some talk of politicians' presidential ambitions. But now, with C-SPAN on board, I think it's fair to say that the race is truly on.

(WATCH: Barbara Bush on Jeb 2016: 'We’ve had enough Bushes')