Every circus needs a sideshow.
Lion tamers, clowns and high-wire acts in the big tent are fine, but if you want to be a really big show, you need a little diversion for the rubes between performances. But the one thing you don't want when you bring the Big Show to Hooterville is longer lines outside the sideshow tent than for the main event. Well, it is clear now that Cincinnati, early in the city council campaign, is selling most of its tickets to the freak show outside the big tent. But if you want to find the main event in Cincinnati politics, you have to follow the money. The money, in this case, is flowing to the top, to the candidates the money people believe can be elected mayor.