Received in our newsroom this morning: A news release announcing that Mayor Bob Duffy will "publicly endorse" Democratic candidates for City Council and the Rochester School Board.

We're all agog here. The news release had the tone of excitement. And yet, we wonder: Our mailboxes have been flooded with campaign material from all of the Democratic candidates, and most of the material from the party's "designated" candidates show the mayor standing, smiling, with the hopefuls. A mailer for the five designated City Council candidates' clearly says that Duffy has endorsed them. So does a mailer for School Board candidate Jose Cruz.

So is today's press conference, at 2:15, simply a publicity stunt, designed to get some of the candidates a little bit of extra attention? (If so, is that an indication that one of the designated slates smells trouble?)

Or will Duffy dis one of the party's official candidates?

The press release piqued our curiosity enough that we've formed an office pool.

Stay tuned.