Obama Calls Reporter 'Sweetie' In Michigan

Barack Obama passed off a reporter today in Michigan, and she seemed less than amused by his name for her.

"Hold on one second there, sweetie," he says.

The reporter signed off: "This sweetie never did get an answer to that question."

Comments

[draba]

Woo. Big deal.

[Seattlelite]

Oh yeah I'm SURE his intention were to insult this women and to boot a women "REPORTER", Why am I not surprised at the over reaction on this thread. As I women frankly I question this her motives seems another case of trying to get that 15 minutes of fame. What 's next a friggin law suit? And women wonder why men are scared shit-less to even approach a women these days. Where is the balance and common sense is PEOPLE!!

[jsar70]

The lady at the coffee drive thru calls me "Sweetie," as does the old woman that I deliver Meals on Wheels to once a week. People need to get over themselves. John Hagee's words are vile. John McCain stating that woman should make less money than men is TRULY insulting. Go ahead, GOP, turn this slip into a Swift Boat ad. "Sweetiegate". Tools.

[FindlayDemocrat]

Obviously, the reporter was very unhappy with him. I can see both sides of the coin. I call many people, including men, sweetie. However, I think it was slightly inappropriate in that situation. I'm sure he didn't mean any harm, and I'm also sure he won't address any reporters as 'sweetie' in the future. Not a huge deal to me.

[gotalife]

Nice.

Just drink the kool aid sweetie.

[PhyllisBurke]

Terrific. I don't imagine he's calling any of the men 'sweetie.' i'm sure he didn't mean anything by it, and his tone would have been the same with a man, but using that word is a problem. especially combined with the edwards endorsement today.
edwards endorses barak as the 'man' in the race who can bring us together, etc, and uses the word 'man' at least three times. words really matter in this race, and this reeks of sabotage. edwards is having it both ways, with his eye on 2012, when all this irritating african-american or woman president fad has run its course. after he spoke, the media were saying things like, if hillary hadn't been in the race, edwards would have been the nominee. and that he overshadows barak, blah blah blah.
now edwards can prance off to kentucky, act like he's working hard for barak (after tossing a little sabotage his way), and when barak loses kentucky, edwards can say, hey! i worked my heart out for him. right. spoken like a true trial lawyer.
if this guy cared about barak, he would have endorsed in north carolina, when barak's numbers looked like they were sinking. but no. not when it would have taken political courage.
watch out for this guy. he's a trojan horse.
you saw right through him in iowa. and you were right.

[SaulGoode]

The way he intentionally degraded that woman with a smirk on his face was sickening.

[TheRealMacDaddy]

You need to change your channel Phyllis. No 'pundit/talking head' I heard tonight said if Hillary hadn't been in the race Edwards would be the Nom. by now. As a matter of fact, they pretty much were in agreement if Barack hadn't been in the race it may have been Edwards.

But the real thing that you don't understand is that Edwards endorsement this evening was more help to Obama than any endorsement prior to N.C. The endorsement event completely eclipsed any mention of Hillary's WV win on the evening News cycle. As a matter of fact on our local 11:00 pm news there was not even a mention of Hillary and WV, but there was a good 2 minutes of reporting on the Edwards endorsement. It just goes to show, Barack might not bowl very good, but he knows when to raise the stakes in a game of head to head poker.

[Seattlelite]

Hey don't get me wrong Sen. Obama is a national figure who will soon be our President and will have to toe the "political correct line" BUT this is just another example of political correctness run a muck!! Notice he said it's a bad habit I have -- well actually if your an AA you realize it's not A BAD habit -- calling someone sweetie is a term of endearment. Excuse my rant I've probably post 6 comments on this thread but this is just pure nonsense in every respect. I wonder how long it will be before we can't even talk in the country.

[Oldtt]

Whether or not use of the term 'sweetie' is an AA norm or not, Obama is a lawyer who has served in both the Illinois legislature and the U.S. Senate and should be more sensitive to applying terms of endearment to professional women, which many find demeaning. As a major party candidate, he needs to tighten up his loose language, which may work in his private life but not in his public life.

[Lauramd]

Yes, it's a pretty big gaffe and yes, he seemed a little condescending, but he apologized and it's time to move on. Everyone takes that kind of talk differently...some wouldn't have been annoyed, she was and it's up to her to either accept his apology or not.

Let's cross our fingers that John McCain calls a female reporter a c--nt (the same name he publicly called his wife) in the general election so that all the "feminist" Clinton supporters who are over at NAROL claiming they'll vote for McCain over a pro-choice Obama can be proud of themselves.

[TheRealMacDaddy]

Thank you Lauramd.

Before you know it, Baracks opponents (on both sides) will be finding 30 second sound bites of you-know-who saying sweetie!

[gwhizz]

You know what's ironic? Obama himself recognized it was a poor choice of words if nothing else, and apologised yet the Obamanation is still trying to defend him.

Hilarious, really.

[amst]

You know what guys? Maybe we should just ignore this bull. Or, we could be a little sympathetic to the Clinton fans who, let's face it, are down in the dumps knowing that Hillary lost the race. Obama supporters would be down too if he was losing. right?

Look at the bright side...IF they had anything deragotory of any substance they'd bitch about that. They obviously don't so they are thriving on "sweetiegate". This to will pass. Let's let it go.

[NuttyProf]

I am amazed that people here are trying to excuse this when THE CANDIDATE HIMSELF ADMITTED THAT HE WAS WRONG. Okay? He apologized and said he was wrong. And yes, I support the man!

But can we agree that it was wrong?

[Seattlelite]

NuttyProf - it's only wrong if you don't understand the meaning and intention behind the word when it's used from am AA. -- pleases read my other threads on this post. Perhaps you understand it's not a bad thing.

[pupbayer]

Please give a list of names AA's can use to whites that are offensive to whites but OK as long as an AA says it. Then give me a list of names whites can use that are offensive to AA's but are OK if whites say them. Then I'll need a list of names that are offensive to whites but OK if whites use them, and a list that offensive to AA's but OK if AA's use them.

I'm new to this it' OK if one group uses them stuff and I'm going to need a guide. It just seems easier to me if everyone is just respectful to everyone else but I guess that is too much to ask of a presidential candidate.

[ema]

The reasonable are separated from the truly nutty...and I don't mean you, nuttyprof.

[zigzag1]

His apology to the reporter indicates what a sincere and classy person he is.

[Seattlelite]

If she understood AA culture she would have not needed an apology and would have found it strange to get one --- LOL and she would have know what he was doing was being polite. LOL.

[Seattlelite]

OKAY, PLEASE LISTEN UP folks -- before this turns into a big deal I hope to enlighten you. This is a cultural thing -- I'm an African American and everyone is called sweetie, it is a sign of endearment. It's a way of saying "I really like you". It especially used by AA's from the south or who had parents from the south. I call all my friends sweetie even my men friends. It goes like this -- hey sweetie how are you, okay sweetie I'll see you next week etc.

[Hopalongpoppyseed]

I was visiting the Midwest and had lots of waitresses call me hon (ey). At first it surprised me, but I grew to like it. ( A Bellinghamster)

[onedivasinger]

Thank you! I use that term all of the time. With men, women, children...this is so silly. Right now, I am trying to help find a way to call many of the republicans and people in this current corrupt administration "convicted felons." Now that's a term that I think is really appropriate, "sweetie!"

[mcole]

first of all, he didnt answer her or any other reportes questions because he was there to take a tour, not hold forte with the press

secondly, i dont know about you, but i live in london; everyone here is darling, sugarplum, babes, honey and in some extreme cases......yep you guessed it...sugarpie honeybunch!!
its just a way of speaking, and if you look at the video, he didnt even look at the reporter, he was just trying to soften the blow of him not answering the question

i can appreciate him apologising, because some people just dont like endearments..it doesnt faze me either way, i've heard people refer to other people as stupid and darling in the same breath....

what is quite sad that every single thing obama does and says is scrutinized and near well demonised if possible..can you imagine a 527 saying publicly they intend to attack him "viciously"??

what d netherworld???

[BitterInPA]

This third string, forth rate reporter and anyone who wants to make this a sexist issue would be advised to get a dictionary and look up the word sweetie.

Oxford - used as a term of endearment.

Or just listen to Obama's apology and then move to the next now issue...
http://www.wxyz.com/news/story.aspx?content_id=13d1f66a-488b-46d3-9d3b-6632e0a8f1f7

[NCMan]

Obama supporters are complete apologists, it's clear. This just shows how sexism is tolerated more than racism in this country.

Calling an adult, professional woman "sweetie" is completely demeaning.

If Obama had asked someone a question and they responded by saying to him "just a minute there , boy" you would all be screaming at the top of your lungs and rightfully so.

Obama supporters went crazy a while back when someone referred to Obama as a young man. But, you see nothing wrong with using a demeaning sexist term for a woman.

Amazing...

[bentenrai]

The man himself apologized what more do you want?

[BitterInPA]

NCMan. Assuming that you are a MAN from NC.
Quick - Have you ever been called sweetie? Such as "How can I help you today sweetie?" or "Would you like toast with that sweetie?"
Don't pull a Clinton and lie about it.

[Seattlelite]

Okay I'm going to ATTEMPT to enlighten some of you who care to be enlighten. This is a cultural thing. I am an AA and we call EVERYONE sweetie - the only exception is men don't call men sweetie. this is especially true with AA who come from the South or who's parents are from the south. IT'S A TERM OF ENDEARMENT -- it's saying "I REALLY LIKE YOU". I call all my friends and sweetie, even people I may not know well but I like. It goes like this -- Hey sweetie how are you? Okay sweetie I'll see you next week. Ask any AA you know and they will confirm what I'm saying.

[punkingale]

If this reporter lived in the South, her blood pressure would be off the charts about 20 times a day. Down here "sweetie" is a term of endearment or what you call someone when you don't know their name. However, a presidential candidate should know when and where to call someone "sweetie". It's certainly not "classy" to call a female reporter that. It's condescending. Did he ever answer her question or was it so hard he had to get the answer from David Axelrod?

[Hopalongpoppyseed]

NCMan, you're a real Sweetheart.