President Obama headed out to California with a simple goal: to collect a few million dollars for Democrats. By the time Air Force One departed the state, however, he left behind a debate about whether he tripped over the line of political correctness.
At the fourth of four big-dollar fund-raisers in Northern California, the normally cautious and reserved Mr. Obama on Thursday lavished praise on the state’s attorney general that went beyond her politics and policies to her physical appearance, touching off an eruption of commentary on Twitter and the Internet.
“You have to be careful to, first of all, say she is brilliant and she is dedicated and she is tough and she is exactly what you’d want in anybody who is administering the law and making sure that everybody is getting a fair shake,†Mr. Obama said in introducing Attorney General Kamala Harris to the crowd at the Atherton home of John D. Goldman, a philanthropist and Levi Strauss heir, and his wife, Marcia Goldman.
Mr. Obama then went on: “She also happens to be by far the best-looking attorney general in the country.â€
As the audience reacted with surprise and applause, Mr. Obama defended himself. “It’s true!†he said. “Come on!â€
If Ms. Harris was offended, she did not say. But others did on her behalf. Robin Abcarian wrote on the Web site of The Los Angeles Times that the comment was “more wolfish than sexist,†and “may be a little problem he needs to work on.â€
Joan Walsh wrote on Salon that “my stomach turned over†when she heard about the comment. “Those of us who’ve fought to make sure that women are seen as more than ornamental - and that includes the president - should know better than to rely on flattering the looks of someone as formidable as Harris,†she said.
Jonathan Chait said on New York magazine’s Web site that it was insensitive even if some did not see the problem. “It’s not a compliment,†he wrote. “And for a president who has become a cultural model for many of his supporters in so many other ways, the example he’s setting here is disgraceful.â€
Ms. Harris, 48, was elected to the statewide office in 2010 after serving two terms as district attorney of San Francisco. She is the first woman to hold the post and the first with African-American and South Asian heritage. On her Web site, she boasts of prosecuting gangs that traffic drugs, guns and human beings as well as cracking down on mortgage-related fraud during California’s foreclosure crisis.
Her name has come up as a possible candidate for governor or even for the United States Supreme Court if another seat is vacated during Mr. Obama’s second term. She has been an ally of the president’s, speaking at the Democratic National Convention that renominated him last year.
