Obama dismisses a female TV reporter as 'Sweetie'

A small but very surprising gaffe by the leading Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, Wednesday during a visit to an automotive plant in Michigan. These photo ops are staged by every presidential campaign for the precise purpose of having TV cameras film their candidate walking, looking and learning something somewhere.

But although the media are absolutely essential to the staged event's success, the campaigns really don't want them messing up their political plans with interruptions or questions. If the cameras only have pictures, that's all the stations can broadcast.

Answering reporters' questions distract from the pleasant photos and could change the subject away from the day's political message. What if they ask him/her about West Virginia or doing poorly among blue-collar Democratic workers like those waiting to shake his hand up the line?

Peggy Agar of Channel 7 TV news in Detroit was with her cameraman at the Sterling Heights, Mich., plant jockeying for position as Obama walked around the facility, trying like all the others in the invited press mob to lob a question in and get the candidate actually talking on-camera instead of merely looking.

Suddenly Obama was walking right toward her. "Senator," Agar addressed him, "how are you going to help the American auto worker?"

"Hold on one second, sweetie," the presidential candidate said, sticking out his right arm as if to ward her off. "We're gonna do a press avail."

Sweetie?

"This 'sweetie,'" Agar noted acidly in her broadcast report, "never did get an answer to that question."

Later, the station said Obama had left an apology on the reporter's phone, admitting he had a problem calling women "sweetie" and saying he intended no disrespect.

If there's no disrespect intended, why wouldn't he have used it during, say, one of his debates against Sen.  Hillary Clinton? "Now, Sweetie, you're not describing my health care plan accurately." How would that go over?

Alas for Obama, his comment was already captured on tape. Here it is.

--Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[Six]

That's not an uncommon, casual expression. I get called "Honey" all the time in the south. Quite frankly, this just looks like another attempt to make an issue of nothing.

How about reporting on something like the candidates voting records or positions? I can read People magazine if I want gossip.

[Erik]

This news-story is a non-issue. Way to blow way out of proportion what to all intents and purposes is a non-circumstantial happenstance Andrew Malcolm!

[Obama supporter]

In the UK, women over 45 address both men and women as "love" or "darling" while men over 45 address women that way. It's no disrespect. It's actually equivalent to addressing someone as "sir" or "ma'am" in the States.

(He'd be a good candidate over there then.)

[Steve Wimer]

Yellow journalism. A new low for the L.A. Times.

[Josh]

Andrew, a few weeks ago you posted a blog entry on Obama's supposed "flipping off" of Clinton. That was a nice piece of superstition and distraction, much like this is. I don't understand how someone with your experience can in good conscious post this fluff and call it journalism. I'm sure this clip will be all over the TV airwaves tomorrow, and in some way that will validate your decision to give ink to this. It shouldn't. Of the thousands of campaign stops made in this race, you don't think each and every candidate has said or done something that others are quick to misconstrue? Of course they have, so either cover them all, or better yet, cover none of them. No amount of cheap "gotcha" youtube journalism will save a life, put food on the table or lower the price of gas.

[Victoria]

This is ludicrous reporting. I 've noticed that Obama calls all babies "Sweetie" too.
How is it a gaffe ?

I would be thrilled if Obama called me "sweetie" and I am a reporter as well !

[Long-time Times reader]

Is Sam Zell a Clinton donor? I'm surprised (a) that this got front page mention and (b) that you chose to run it as straight reporting. It sure smacks of non-issue gutter journalism. I know it's in the nature of blogs to be snarky and informal...but where's the editorial voice to tell us that you're aware of the frivolity of this piece, that you see it as another stretch of the lunacy parade that is today's political coverage? Disappointing, gentlemen...

[Obamamania]

Michelle, Barak, and Reverend Wright are RIGHT! God D*** america! Racist, bitter, typical white people vote for clinton. Go cling to your religion fools, but save your gun money for my reparations check! Remeber rednecks, you know your a racist if you dont vote for Obama! Dont vote for the Ho.

[John B Sheffield]

Just another Pro-Hillary propaganda piece???? waste of space, how low can some stoop??

[ericmiami]

At least this will give Sen. Clinton's people, like the snake-oil salesman, Terry McAuliffe, new false hope! They will see it as the smoking gun. Ha ha ha ha ha.

[jim]

So, what about calling Obama 'boy'. I'll bet that wouldn't go over well. Stereotyping is stereotyping. Racism is racism, its ok if you are black, and evil if you are white. I say it is evil all the time and Obama should not get a free pass.

[karenjeis]

i'm sure obama had no intention of being malicious when he said "sweetie", but that doesn't make it any less wrong. I mean, he is a politician running for the highest office in the land, Would you like it if your boss calls you sweetie?

[sawaya]

Gees.....what next? Are you really that desperate and so lacking in real news-worthy items to report that you'd stoop to this below-the-belt report on "Sweetie?" Report, instead, on the latest Bush-crap....giving up his days on the links....as supporting our troops!!!!!! My God....what a colossal ly ignorant, cold-hearted, disgustingly horrid statement. And, even that, a damn lie. There are photos showing him playing that very game later. The man should be tried in the Hague...war crimes and all. Barack Obama's intelligence will bring back dignity, grace, and all things good to the White House. Now, show your intelligence in your reporting.

[Wm Tate]

The question really is, How would the media react if Sen. McCain--or Pres. Bush--had called a reporter "Sweetie." Think we might have seen it on the front page, at least as a sidebar?
-Wm Tate
http://www.atimelikethis.us/

[JB The Hut]

After all the bullship we've had to put up with with the idiot Bush and all of Hillary's antic's this isn't even newsworthy, if this is the kind of ship people want to try to come up with then screw em....

[MaryL]

I was very bothered by this and somewhat relieved when he apologized. I don't ever want to hear him call a grown woman "sweetie" again.

Re the unanswered question: I can give him a pass on this. It isn't as if he answered questions from a bunch of male reporters and ignored just the woman's question. It sounds like a campaign or candidate screw-up: he was sweeping through the plant and had a bunch of questions shouted at him by more than one reporter in a jostling crowd. He didn't answer any of those questions, maybe because he really did expect a presser later, but that didn't happen.

And I wouldn't expect him to talk to Clinton in the same distracted way during a debate. A "sweetie" in the atmosphere of a debate would be nothing but a deliberate diss. I think Obama didn't realize how condescending "sweetie" sounds to a grown woman, even when spoken reflexively while he's focusing on something else, but I hope to hell he gets it now.

[Wow]

Obamamania--Your eloquent post is precisely why I am not voting for Sen. Obama. Thanks for reminding me.

[Ed]

The best plan of action for Barry is to lay low. Opening his mouth just reveals the true Barry that his campaign has desperately tried to avoid. This off the cuff remark exposes Barry as a misogynist. He is in good company with Dean and the rest of the DNC. They are so afraid that a woman would become president. This is why the Democrats will lose the general election with Obama. It appears the GOP has more respect for women than the DNC. At least they had Condi as Secretary of State. What a hypocritical joke the DNC has become.

[Rajah Kahn]

IS THIS news?????????GEE I HAVE USED THIS WORD SWEETIE SO OFTEN, HOW COME I DID NOT MAKE THE NEWS???????? IS THIS AMERICA??? WE ARE WORST THAN THE "TALIBANS"........

[Nova yos Galan]

Words matter. What if the table were reversed and someone said to Obama, "Hold on one second.... boy"? Or the "N" word? Calling a professional woman sweetie in a professional situation is completely unacceptable. It dismisses and diminishes her at the same time. Calling a friend or loved one an endearing term over coffee is very different from using that same term in a professional enviornment with a stranger. I can see there's not going to be a lot of "change" in D.C. in terms of sexism if he is elected. Women need to wake up.

[Cecile]

So, "sweetie" is a gaffe ?
I thought it was "bitter".

You should hear from the journalist in question, she doesn't make a lot of that.

[pompous_as&]

In some regions it's common to address black men as "boy". Would you people get the same warm fuzzy feeling if your hero was addressed as such?

It was thoughtless and dis-respectful. He should have known better and he was right to apologize.

[Luis Alvarado]

If my wife heard me call another woman sweetie, she would hit me on the side of my head. Not because she would fell that I was flirting or giving her a complement, but because it is very disrespectful.
When engaging another person on a professional field, each should respect the other by not addressing or emphasizing personal characteristics that link the other person with protected civil liberties.
Obama would not call a gay man sweetie would he? Or an older reporter "Pop". Yes, I believe that there is no disrespect intended on his behalf. Just another example of how an unseasoned politician is reaching for an office that does not fit his level of political experience.

[KAren]

Call me sweetie anytime. I want complain!

[Listener Joe]

Maybe it was Agar's whiny accent. It used to be called "Valley Girl". I have heard it called "a mouthful of marbles and oatmeal".

"Sann-uh-trrrr, howr y' gonna halp the Amarican otto wuhkrrrrrrr?"

Pronouncing the short "e" sound as a flat, short "a", makes the questioner sound like a bit of a bimbo. But she is an ABC "Duzznnay" reporter, so that's probably how their Hannah Banannah demographic talks anyway. At least ABC is one step up up from Fox.

All that being said, Obama should have been more careful in HIS choice of appellations.

[mike]

L.O.L. ;) The more you attack Barack with petty Sticks and Stones,the more his support grows!!! Senator Barack Obama!!! 2008 ..HE IS AN AMERI-CAN NOT AN AMERI_CAN'T .

[Scott]

Hey there, I watched and listened to Obamas Sweetie Comment... at first I was expecting a sweetie in a fatherly way... now it sounds like a slap on the a$#, "Sweetie". This afternoon I find myself wondering how many "Sweeties" will work in the oval office.

[kenneth jones]

would you rather have a person who said "sweetie" and then sincerely apologizes, or a warmonger for pres?

[Richie Doikens]

Get over it, honey.

[Vnd]

Obama thinks he can charm the pants off anyone (male or female).

His apology call is just another example. In it he says he's "duly chastened" (oh my, flutter, flutter) and she should "feel free to call me back" (yeah right).

He is so smarmy I want to vomit.

Last night when he was introducing John Edwards, he was flirting with the crowd in Michigan. He made them feel SO special because he just felt SO bad about not campaigning there, he'd saved this moment JUST for them.

Puke. How can people fall for it?

I just wish that Hillary supporter in PA -- the one who he asked "what do I have to do? get down on my knees? I'll give you a kiss" -- I wish she had slapped him in the face for making the suggestion.

[bell]

What a flippant sexist thing to say.
He is putting her down.
He knows exactly what he is doing and he also knows how to behave as if contrite at times too.

[MsSwin]

Sweetie???!!! Call out the political proctologists and get this on the news 24/7 right away! Let's make sure the media covers this important incident rather than the issues! BTW, I'd much rather have a president who has a habit of using sweetie than one who has a habit of calling his wife vulgar names. Might be a better story in why McCain, when asked a direct question about whether he did, in fact, call his wife those horrible names could not answer with a simple yes or no. Instead, the Baptist preacher asking the question was hauled off by the Secret Service.

Thanks darlin', you have a good day hon.

[nazcalito]

In L.A. you're objecting to "sweetie?" What's the matter -- should he have said "daaaarling?"

[Tamara588]

How about this....

Pretend Hillary Clinton said it ... and she said it to a black man .... and instead of "sweetie" she called him "boy".

How innocuous is it now?

[gabriela guarguagli]

"Sweetie" what's else can Obama say. That's the problem, men never take women seriously, no matter how hard women work to earn respect.
If Obama wins the white house, nothing will change, it will be the same asit has been for 243 years or so.
If Americans really want change and are ready for change, theywill put Hillary in the white house. Otherwise Americans will show, once again, they're not ready for change.

[Tom J]

Maybe he could take up my personal favorite colloquialism in the UK: calling everyone "ducks". There's also "pet" and "love" (depending on the part of the country you're in), but "ducks" calearly takes the cake. So to speak.

Andrew said: "If there's no disrespect intended, why wouldn't he have used it during, say, one of his debates against Sen. Hillary Clinton?"

Andrew is clearly suffering from election overload. SOME of us clearly remember Obama speaking to a crowd (I believe it was immediately after Barbara Boxer spoke) and starting off wiht, "Now isn't Barbara Boxer a sweetie?"

Clearly, NO disrespect was intended.

[J Cline]

Obamorons will find any sort of excuse for their idol. (How's that Kool-Aid sugar buzz working for ya?)

Offense is in the perception, not the intent. That's why we don't use slang labels and dimunitive terms with adult strangers in a professional setting. Men tend to use these sort of "endearments" in front of other men to neutralize challenging women at work. Obama was talking in front of a bunch of male autoworkers -- a hypermasculine crowd if there was one -- and the reporter was doing her job, pushing for an answer.

Well, the Messiah doesn't like to be questioned outside of his carefully-choreographed media ops. So he blew her off with a dismissive one-liner and a smirk, and if you listen to the YouTube video (the long one) you hear the other men snicker, as if she just got put "in her place." But the woman deserved an honest answer, not a patronizing term. How exactly IS Obamajesus going to help American autoworkers?

As for the term itself, as far as I'm concerned, if Obama gets to call me "sweetie" then I'll be glad to call him "boy". Fair's fair.

[amy]

He's a friendly sexist pig. But I kinda already figured that one out long ago. What's important about sexual harrassment is not whether anyone else finds it offensive, rather it's about whether the victm found it offensive. Ask any judge or lawyer they will yell you the same. Would he call a grown man 'sweetie'?

[amy]

After reading these posts, I am certain women who support Obama have little or no self esteem. How can another woman defendthis? And how can anyone begin to blame the reporter? Her voice washross so she was asking for it???? He' a single handedly setting women back 40 years. Women who support Obama better start loving themselves. You still only make 77 cents to his dollar.

[John]

I have a problem calling blacks, niggers, but then I don't mean any disrespect.

[Miguel]

This is bad journalism. Reporter delivery is childish to begin with. She injected herself into the story, bad, bad, bad.

[gaypastor]

I find all of this commentary fascinating. When Rep. Geoff Davis called Obama "a boy" in early April Obama campaign spokesman, Bill Burton (and MANY of you!), said Davis was being "condescending and [engaging in a]personal attack."

Now that Obama has mispoken by using a word that connotes sexist thinking everyone expects us to jump on the bandwagon that says "hey...its just a word...what's the big deal...why all the fuss?"

You Obamabots are truly hypocrites. No wonder the DNC is being split into two. We need to have the same rules for everyone here!!!!

Sexism is NOT a lesser evil than RACISM...or ageism...or homophobia...or...

[josie zamudio]

Dear Andrew Malcolm,

This article is inaccurate. Obama admitted he had a problem calling PEOPLE sweetie, NOT women. This inaccurate reporting completely alters the message and implies that he views women a certain way. Fix it, sweetie.

Josie Z.
A devoted LA Times reader

(Obama calls guys "sweetie"?)

[Tess]

This is will get little or no play in the media. Obama could smack a campaign worker on the bum and get away with it. It's "kewl" to be dismissive of women in Obamaland. The delusion continues undisturbed.

For Six, this didn't occur in the South and Obama is not from the South. It was a inappropriate and sexist term used in a prefessional setting.

Josh, I saw both youtube videos where Obama flipped off Clinton has the same point of his speech on two difference occasions. Yeah, it was the bird. Every woman who has eithered mothered or taught teenage boys know the passive-aggressive FU that is masked as a face scratch.

I'm so over this fool.

[Matt]

no big deal. condescending but not sexist.

[Ann]

I'm a woman - I call everyone 'hon' - some people stiffen, but I think that's their problem.

[tony]

"boy" and "sweetie" are two entirely different things, and if you don't know the difference, well, then your racism is SHOUTING from the ROOFTOPS my friends.

1) sweetie shows some term of endearment. If you think someone is putting you down by using it, then you are projecting. Maybe you feel powerless and need to deal with that. Listen to his tone, its very gentle, kind. Tone matters here. He's not slapping his hand on her knee and sayin' heyyyy sweetieeee. Seriously.

2) boy - when a person is a man, is definitely intended as a put-down. It has a history with with white slave-owners and racists.

DON'T EVEN COMPARE THE TWO.

SERIOUSLY.

[J]

It is sad that these people must resort to propaganda instead of addressing the issues. News station: learn to address the issues instead of misleading your viewers about the Candidates views.

Sweetie is a common word used in much of our society. I am a male, and I have been called sweetie many times while working retail and working on a campus library.

Obama is all about the working class in all of his speeches, while McCain says our economy is perfectly fine and McCain supports tax cuts for the rich.

I hope this reporter gets fired, because clearly the news report on t.v. was a pathetic attempt at following exaggerated and propaganda based news like Fox news.

Our news today is a complete joke, and this stupid report reflects that retardedness

[Shania]

The point is not the disarming 'sweetie' - the point is he meant, "Remain my sweetie while I duck your question," and then refused to fulfill his word, get back to her and ANSWER it. The problem is that a gradual pattern is emerging, from the very first moment we sensed something about Fast Barry early on in the Primary debates. "You're likeable enough, Hillary." he sourly blurted out, and a moment for being naturally magnanimous was rejected by his hubris. Once, twice, thrice, these arrogant moments are beginning to tally - a superiority complex. Why for instance, did this man allow messianic moments in his advertisements? They're there.....there's this stuff about chanting Obama and "we are the ones we are waiting for!" I think we had better take the warning given by the true Messiah, Jesus Christ, that there would be false christ's arrive on the scene before His return, saying "I am He!" - "We are the ones we've been waiting for!"
And like I say, these moments have never been disowned by Fast Barry - he has never admitted they were dead wrong even, like when he said how voters would evolve when he Obamaman arrived on the scene. Who does he think he is? At the same time these are very strange and hubristic statements for someone who has been a friend of PLO types like Rev Jeremiah Wright, William Ayers, Rashid, Khalid, etc.
Fast Barry seems to have pulled a fast one on the lib- left democrats. And that's another thing - he is the most liberal voter in the senate according to the National Journal - if you listen carefully, he has an assumption that he should redistribute wealth - he has Socialistic instinct and assumptions - meanwhile he has never owned or run a business! Like I say, too many bad signs - wake up America - John McCain we know - and he proved his honor in Hanoi - he's a man we know and can trust - a real straight shooter who doesn't hide his faults or his anger. Yep, I was willing to give Obama a look, but now I've seen and am wary. His conceit lost my vote, so I'm going for Mac McCain.
Go Mac Go!

[C]

Sorry but calling someone sweetie is dismissive in a professional situation. There is other stuff I would rather see reported on in this race. But y'all should stop trying to spin that it's okay to call a grown woman sweetie in a professional context. It is never okay no matter how it is meant. It's a professional gaffe.