And the countdown has begun

With only 663 shopping days until Election Day 2020, which I believe falls on a Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, (D-Mass.) last weekend was the first major Democrat Presidential hopeful to visit Iowa in 2019 to build up her voter base for the Iowa caucuses, which is only 389 shopping days away.Hmmm … If Warren was to win the race to the White House in 2020, would outgoing Commander-in-Chief Trump refer to her as President Pocahontas?Just out of curiosity, I went to the Federal Election Commission website to see how many candidates have filed with the FEC to run for President of the USA in 2020, so far.So far, as of Jan. 2, one full week ago, 444 candidates have filed with the FEC to run for President of the USA, so far.Here is the (Foggy Mountain) breakdown of the political parties that the 444 Presidential hopefuls represent: 133 Democratic candidates, 60 Republican candidates, 18 Libertarian candidates, 10 Green candidates and a partridge in a pear tree candidate.The remaining 243 candidates are either independent, unaffiliated, write-in or other.Other?Yes, that is the party Sexy Vegan listed as their affiliation when they filed with the FEC on March 5 of last year.Perhaps you caught Sexy Vegan's appearances on the Dr. Phil show last year when he — yes, he — was kicked off the set for swearing while doing the moonwalk.Or maybe you viewed Sexy Vegan's second appearance on Dr. Phil when he, yes, he, apologized for the first appearance.Guess how many marbles I lost are in the jar — Part one On Oct. 15, 1974, Congress created the Federal Election Commission to administer and enforce the Federal Election Campaign Act. Name the first president to file with the FEC. The answer will appear later in the column.It is now later in the column, but the answer is not here.Just for grins and giggles, I decided to file my intentions to run for president with the FEC. So, I went to the FEC website. All was going well until they asked for my party affiliation.Apparently the FEC has no sense of humor as every attempt I made to type in the Bull@$#% Party was denied.Looks like I'll have to wait until 2024. By then I'm sure the Bull@$#% Party will be recognized by the FEC. Especially since it currently recognizes the Democrat and Republican Parties.Guess how many marbles I lost are in the jar — Part deuce The answer to part one is President Ford. He filed for the 1976 election, which he lost, while he was the appointed president.Now, name if you dare, the first person to file with FEC that was elected president. The answer will appear in the next paragraph.Even though President Carter won the 1976 election, President Reagan, who lost the primaries to President Ford, filed with the FEC before President Carter.Meaning when he won the 1980 election, he technically was the "first" person to file with the FEC to become president. Ah, fine print and technicalities.Anyway, we've had just over a two-year, two-month break from the last presidential campaign.President Theodore Roosevelt, 114 years ago, pushed Congress for campaign finance reform, which resulted in a series of legislative actions between 1907 and 1966 regarding primary and general election campaign funding and expenditures for presidential elections.That was then.This is now.As in, 114 years later, now. Congress needs to push Congress for campaign reform regarding primary and general elections for the presidential election.The problem is Congress knows the public is more interested in who is running for office, rather than who is running the office.Meaning, the longer a campaign lasts for us to watch to see who is elected, then the shorter we watch those already elected.Register columnist Chuck Hoefert