Had enough politics for a while? Well too bad, because the first debate of the 2012 presidential race is just around the corner.

Politico and NBC News announced today that they will host the first Republican primary debate sometime next spring at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.

Since Reagan's death, it's become a bit of a ritual for the Republican contenders to go pay homage at his gravesite. This despite the fact that California does not have one of the key early primaries, and isn't terribly relevant in the general election either. But whatever. It's not about California. It's about Reagan.

If it seems like these debates are getting earlier and earlier, you're not imagining things. The first Republican debate of the 2008 campaign was held at the Reagan library in May 2007. That was early enough that it featured such forgettable candidates as Duncan Hunter and Jim Gilmore.

This one could be earlier still, but if you can't wait to get rid of President Obama, it's never too soon to start thinking about this stuff.

Also, if you're Politico, what else are you going to cover? Policy? The answer to that question is the site's top story at the moment: Map narrows for Obama reelection.

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