I scream, you scream, we all scream for Berding

Like many Cincinnatians, you may well have your own favorite flavor of ice cream down at the corner UDF store.

Now, your UDF store has its favorite flavor of Cincinnati City Council candidate.

Drive into the parking lot of about a dozen Cincinnati UDF stores and you will pass by the yard signs of Jeff Berding (right), Democratic candidate for city council.

Yard signs and other political banners at retail stores are generally rare as a really good scoop of tutti-frutti, mainly because shop owners tend to shy away from politics. They know that if they endorse a candidate a potential customer doesn't like, that customer might decide to take his or her business elsewhere.

But UDF president David Lindner is an old fraternity brother of the council candidate, back in their days at Miami University; and old frat ties never die.

Berding said his college buddy called him and told him he'd be welcome to put his yard signs up at some of the stores.

"I never pass up an offer to put up yard signs,'' Berding said.

In addition to nice, high-traffic yard sign locations, Lindner gave the Berding campaign a maximum contribution of $1,000 - as did 14 other members of the Lindner family.

Nice gesture on the part of an old frat brother. Some of us, though, would have held out for a lifetime supply of chocolate malts.