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

[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.