Quiz: Which local pol to attend both conventions?

City Council member James “Smuggie” Mitchell will be attending the Republican National Convention next month in St. Paul, Minn. Say what? Mitchell is a lifelong Democrat.

He’s also going to the Democratic convention in Denver later this month. Mitchell will attend both conventions as president of the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials, a nonpartisan group that’s part of the National League of Cities.

“Sometimes duty calls,” he told me. And he pointed out that the top issues for cities at the moment — foreclosures and crime — aren’t partisan issues anyway.