I have been a little disappointed in The Fix recently. It was, along with FiveThirtyEight, one of my favorite blogs during the Presidential election. Chris Cilizza has excellent political instincts and a good sense of humor that enabled him to give insights into the ups and downs of campaigns all over the country and into the daily life of a major newspaper reporter.

However, since the election, Cilizza hasn’t been interesting me as much. Maybe it is because Obama already won, so I don’t really care whether his plan to save the economy is popular with Republicans or not; I would rather read some policy blogs about whether it will work. But that can’t be it, since I love to hear about the machinations of Congress and the White House. It seems that Cilizza just doesn’t seem to give the insight into the sausage-making of policy that he was able to give to the campaigns. I have also worried that Cilizza was losing his touch. He did just cover the campaign of a lifetime and has a new baby, so it is understandable if they guy wants to phone it in for a while.

However, as soon as you give up on someone they smack you in the face. I was delighted to see a great post yesterday, right in Cilizza’s wheelhouse, about the NY-20 special election. I was just saying that I have no idea what is going on with this election and probably should. So Chris, what are the basics?

The special election in New York’s 20th district is just one week away and the level of national interest — and involvement — is growing rapidly.

What’s clear is that businessman Scott Murphy, the Democrat, has the momentum over state Assemblyman Jim Tedisco (R), and a loss for Republicans could be potentially disastrous for a party looking for good news.

The Albany-area district went for Obama narrowly in November, according to tabulations by Swing State Project.

Thanks! What are five things I need to know to be aware of the issues at stake in this election? And do you mind if I summarize what you wrote?

• Will Obama get Involved? (He endorsed Murphy this morning)
• Which third-party groups (e.g., Unions) will be able to position themselves to claim victory for whoever wins?
• The campaign is coming down to a debate over the stimulus,  as such it could be seen as a national referendum on President Obama’s plans.
• Apparently the ads are almost 100% negative. Will either candidate tack against the wind and go positive or will someone devise a new negative ad that floors his opponent.
• GOTV – with a week left that is really all that matters. Have campaigns done their homework? Do they know where the votes are? Also will Obama’s endorsement affect that effort.

Great! I will be keeping an eye on this race and The Fix has earned itself a few more months in my RSS reader.