Protecting Berding from Himself

Dictionary.com defines “hypocrite” as “a person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, especially one whose private life, opinions or statements belie his or her public statements.”

It´s derived from a Greek word that means “actor.”

A few politicians, unfortunately, all too often fall into this category — som e more than others.

One such politician, some local Democrats say, is Cincinnati City Councilman Jeff Berding. Recently re-elected to his second term, although by a declining margin, Berding has a long history of irritating his fellow Democrats on council and shutting most of them out of deals he makes with Republicans and Charterites.

Berding also has a habit of pissing off many rank-and-file Democrats by publicly attacking popular party officials like Vice Mayor David Crowley and offering campaign advice to then-County Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus, a Republican, against his Democratic challenger.

Still, come each election season, Berding somehow manages to finesse the mechanics of the Democratic Party´s endorsement process to win its backing. The endorsement usually comes after his heartfelt speech before precinct executives promising to work better with his Democratic colleagues.

“I have tried to work with any and all members of council and our mayor to get the job done,” Berding told precinct executives last spring. “I admit sometimes I have done well in that area, and other times I´ve been less successful.”

Some remarks that Berding made just days before the election last fall, therefore, come as a surprise. Both Democrats and Republicans who attended a fund-raiser for Berding and three other candidates at a Mount Lookout home the week before the election say Berding told the crowd not to vote for four other Democratic incumbents seeking re-election.

That´s right: The man who professed to stop publicly criticizing other Democrats told guests they shouldn’t vote for Crowley, John Cranley, Cecil Thomas and Laketa Cole. Realistically, the warnings about the first three candidates aren’t out of the blue — Berding has frequently clashed with the trio on various issues. But his advice about Cole is shocking as she bucked the party last year and sided with Berding and a coalition of Republicans and Charterites on council during the budget approval process.

Strangely enough, it was some Republicans who attended the fund-raiser who first related the anecdote to me. It was a mostly Republican crowd at the event, after all. But most people would think it´s the Democrats who were there who would be offended and want to spill the beans. Such is the power of the local Democratic Party machinery that the few Democrats in attendance were admonished not to mention the incident, and they followed the advice.

Now, more than two months after the election, some Democrats were willing to confirm the anecdote to CityBeat. Too bad it didn’t happen before Nov. 6, as voters could´ve made a more informed choice.

This article appears in Jan 23-29, 2008.