So why'd Smitherman change his mind?

When Cincinnati NAACP President Christopher Smitherman changed his mind at the last minute about running for Cincinnati City Council (read the Enquirer story), many wondered if a visit this week by a national NAACP big whig had anything to do with it.

You see, the national office has rules prohibiting a chapter leader running for elected office. They require that person to resign their NAACP role during the campaign to avoid any potential conflicts of interest.

But Smitherman initially said he would run anyway, defying the national office's rules (read the Enquirer story).

As the filing deadline approached this week, National NAACP Chief of Field Operations Nelson B. Rivers III paid a visit to Cincinnati.

The deadline came and went Thursday with Smitherman's name conspicuously absent from the list.

Smitherman said Thursday night he'd changed his mind because he decided that the NAACP was his priority and "It was very important for my (NAACP) camp that I stay."

So was the change-of-heart a coincidence? Or did he get a talking-to from the the NAACP powers-that-be?

The Enquirer asked Rivers during the chapter's general membership meeting Thursday night. Rivers said there was no talking-to because Smitherman had already decided not to run.

"There was nothing to discuss," Rivers said. "He said he wasn't running so it was a moot issue."

Rivers said he came to town because the chapter is an "important branch" and has been "doing good work" and because he wanted to participate in the meeting. Not because of the Smitherman candidacy controversy.

Rivers did, however, take time to give a detailed explanation of the national policy to the membership Thursday night after one of them asked him about it.

The local NAACP chapter does, indeed have a lot going on. It's set to host the national NAACP annual convention next year and just wrapped up a successful referendum effort to get a sales tax increase for a new jail on the November ballot.