A hot little topic currently, among people who are fascinated by such things, is School Board member Cynthia Elliott's muttering "dumb motherfucker" at a recent board meeting, aiming it at Board member Van White.

Elliott is running for re-election, and the Democrat and Chronicle endorsed her before the September Democratic primary. Her outburst last week apparently shocked the D&C's editorial writers so much that on Sunday they withdrew their endorsement. Their explanation: "Too many issues surrounding Elliott's public demeanor...."

The D&C's endorsement withdrawal comes a little late, of course. The September primary - in which Elliott was one of the three winners - was the real election. Although two third-party candidates are on the ballot in next week's general election, traditionally, third parties don't do at all well here. The odds overwhelmingly favor the three Democrats on the ballot: White, José Cruz, and Elliott.

Sadly, the "issues" to which the D&C referred on Sunday were widely known before the primary. In public School Board sessions, Elliott is frequently harsh, negative, and angry. She belittles district staff members and attacks other Board members. Nobody, then, should be surprised that she would mutter an expletive under her breath.

Frankly, I was less shocked by Elliott's MF comment last week than I was by her June e-mail dressing down Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard, ordering him to "Stop acting like a little girl, stop whining and do your job." She copied that e-mail to other School Board members.

Politicians aren't saints, and we can't expect them to be. Many of us say things we shouldn't when we're upset, and last week Elliott was agitated about the issue the Board was discussing. She didn't say the MF word into the microphone that each Board member has; she muttered it, seemingly to herself. Elliott told Channel 13's Rachel Barnhart that she was frustrated and that her comment "wasn't for the public to hear."

Focusing on Elliott's swearing, however, ignores some larger concerns - not about Elliott but about, well, shall we say, her "enablers."

Those enablers include the Democrat and Chronicle editorial writers, who ignored Elliott's previous outbursts in their pre-primary endorsement.

The enablers include Mayor Bob Duffy, who endorsed Elliott before the primary. (Despite the swearing, Duffy's sticking by her. "The mayor has endorsed Cynthia," says spokesperson Mike Keane, "and he's not pulling his endorsement.")

And the principal enablers are the leaders of the Monroe County Democratic Committee, who engaged in some old-fashioned, smoke-filled-room dealing at their annual convention and gave Elliott the party's designation. In doing that, they overruled the votes of some individual committees.

Typically, these kinds of deals involve some trades as the political leaders select the candidates for all of the offices in that year's election. Supporters of one candidate agree to vote for somebody they don't especially want - or perhaps somebody they really don't want - to get that candidate's supporters to vote for their own candidate.

Actually, I believe these back-room dealings have a place. Somebody needs to pull back from the friendships and the sometimes shallow or naïve assessments of candidates and think about who the best candidates are - and who are best suited to serve.

But I'm willing to bet that's not what happened with Elliott. Concerns over her temperament were no secret when the Democrats picked her. My guess is that she got her party's designation because of good old horse trading.

Rochester needs a strong School Board, with members who can work together despite their disagreements - and who will treat district staff with respect. The tragedy with Elliott is that she could be a powerful spokesperson for Rochester students. She could help galvanize the community to meet children's needs. Instead, her behavior is a destructive force.

It's a shame that her enablers didn't have more respect for Rochester's school district when they lined up behind her.