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Blow: Looking forward to reconstruction

In this Oct. 28, 2018, file photo, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey exits the stage after speaking at a get out the vote event hosted by the New Hampshire Young Democrats at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. Even before they announce their White House intentions, New Hampshire's ambitious neighbors are in the midst of a shadow campaign to shape the nation's first presidential primary election of the 2020 season.(AP Photo/ Cheryl Senter, File)
In this Oct. 28, 2018, file photo, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey exits the stage after speaking at a get out the vote event hosted by the New Hampshire Young Democrats at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. Even before they announce their White House intentions, New Hampshire's ambitious neighbors are in the midst of a shadow campaign to shape the nation's first presidential primary election of the 2020 season.(AP Photo/ Cheryl Senter, File) In this Oct. 28, 2018, file photo, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey exits the stage after speaking at a get out the vote event hosted by the New Hampshire Young Democrats at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. Even before they announce their White House intentions, New Hampshire's ambitious neighbors are in the midst of a shadow campaign to shape the nation's first presidential primary election of the 2020 season.(AP Photo/ Cheryl Senter, File)

By Charles M. Blow/New York Times News Service 4 min read

Make no mistake: the 2020 presidential race has already begun. It began before the ballots were fully counted from the midterms, and for some presidential hopefuls, it started even earlier.

People are already making the obligatory pilgrimages to Iowa and New Hampshire.

In fact, NBC10 Boston and New England Cable News have been tracking visits to New Hampshire by politicians who might run in 2020, and by their count, as of Nov. 13, Maryland Rep. John Delaney, who has already declared his candidacy and already has a campaign website, leads the pack with 35 visits (each city visited counts as a separate visit even if it’s on the same day as another city).

Next on that list of visitors are Jeff Merkley, a Democratic senator from Oregon; former Maryland governor and 2016 candidate Martin O’Malley; former Missouri Secretary of State, Jason Kander; Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan; Sen. Bernie Sanders; and Julián Castro, Barack Obama’s housing secretary.

As Politico reported in June, nine prospective candidates, including Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, as well as former Vice President Joe Biden and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, had met with Obama in one-on-one meetings.