Cincy Dems: Trouble in Paradise?

Tim Burke is apparently a worried man; and worried men sing worried songs.

And write worried letters.

The Hamilton County Democratic Party chairman fired off a letter to Cincinnati Democratic leaders Thursday saying that, with the election only five days away, "maintaining a Democratic majority on Cincinnati City Council is very much in jeopardy."

"If we lose it,'' Burke writes, "it will be because Charlie Winburn returns to council."

It's not really clear what good having a majority of Democrats on council has done for the local party, given the fact that the five Democrats rarely hang together and it was a tri-partisan coalition - the "Fiscal Five" - which has often called the shots at City Hall.

But any majority is better than no majority. And Burke says that if the Democrats lose it, it will be because three of the Democratic incumbents - Jeff Berding, Laketa Cole and Cecil Thomas have some serious problems to deal with.

Berding, apparently, is at the top of the "vulnerable" list. "I would be less than frank if I did not acknowledge that Jeff Berding draws the most criticism from our own Democrats,'' Burke writes. "Some positions that he has taken over the past two years have not been well-received, but the fact of the matter is that Jeff has been a loyal Democrat."

Cole's recent domestic troubles should not be allowed to hurt her re-election chances, Burke said. Cole was attacked by her boyfriend's ex-girlfriend and asked police to keep her name out of the report. The council member said that police had suggested to her that she could be listed on the report as "Jane Doe."

Thomas may be vulnerable, Burke writes, "because of his quiet style of getting the job done." Thomas, frustrated that he is not getting credit for his work to reduce crime in the city, is running a TV ad that runs against the tide in a council election where it seems everyone else is running for sheriff - Thomas argues that crime is down; and that he had a lot to do with it.

The good news, Burke writes is that the other Democratic incumbents - David Crowley and John Cranley - are going to be re-elected with no problem.

But two seats, on a nine-member council, does not a majority make.