The election is over. The election postmortems are starting to get a little stale, and the public is ready to stow away its civic concern and return to the business of not caring. The sweet season of scandal and smearing is fading, and the dull business of governance now begins. This blog hasn't been perfect, but if it's good at anything, that anything is the direct and immediate channeling of popular will. As it fades, so too do we. Like all great duos — from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to Loggins and Messina to Faso and Vanderhoef — your old friends Early and Often must also go gently.

If you're the type who just doesn't know when to get over it and stop paying attention, if you'd like to spend every waking hour driving past Politics' house, slowing down to get a peek in its bedroom window, there are several sources of current-events information we can recommend. This publication offers frequently updated news and opinion. This one touches on the lighter side of local goings-on. Television is also good for keeping up on public affairs. That little box is lousy with stuff like that, and it pretty much runs 24/7. How they fill all those hours is beyond us, but they seem to manage.

So consider this an awkward good-bye hug.

— Jon Dolan

Scrutinizing local politics is a big job, one that seems so much more fun with the Internet. Not only do political blogs span the ideological spectrum, but, at times, they're the only source of coverage for candidates looking to get a mention somewhere, anywhere.

Here's some of what we're reading:

• Just Hillary is just that.
• NYC Republicans wandering lonely in the wilderness, you've got a friend in Urban Elephants.
• Albany observers chronicle the grinding state-government machine at Capitol Confidential.
• If you're lonely for the camaraderie you felt in a jail cell during the 2004 GOP convention, read The Daily Gotham.
• Bill Clinton hoped Democrats would rise like a phoenix after his rant on Fox. Maybe, but first they have to figure out what they think about it. Arianna Huffington gets them going.
• There is not a race in the tri-state area The Empire Zone doesn't cover.
• Ben Smith's The Daily Politics: indefatigable.
• New York Observer's Politicker: indispensable.
• For its depth and breadth, nothing compares to Room 8.

The phrase "vote early and often" evokes a special time for our democracy — an era of smoky rooms and enfranchised corpses. Our hat-wearing, cigar-chomping forebears are gone, but today's political characters are just as entertaining.

Early and often also describes our publishing schedule. From now till Election Day, we'll examine local and state races with an eye on the personalities and tactics behind them. We'll scour campaign finance reports to show you who is giving what to whom. We'll introduce you to candidates who have no chance and tense races you've never heard of. Along the way, we'll stop for frequent digressions into the larger world of New York politics, like our fastidiously overachieving mayor or our surfeit of presidential hopefuls.

New York's political correspondent, Chris Smith, will occasionally share his insight and information here. But our main contributor, Jon Dolan, has spent the past decade writing about entertainment for money and following politics for entertainment. He'll be daily sifting through official and anecdotal journalistic venues, working the phones, and greasing the Palm Pilots of power for your benefit.