Here we go again.

By now you may have heard about the latest mini-scandal from the Obama campaign. Or perhaps not. The intellectual blogosphere and a few political pundits weighed in on the issue, but it died almost as quickly soon thereafter.

Long story short: While touring a Detroit auto plant, Senator Obama called a reporter “sweetie,” then subsequently ignored her question.

Now, dismissing reporters isn’t new on the campaign trail. Candidates crave media attention as much as they crave money. It’s a synergistic relationship: The more media you attract, the more money you raise, and vice versa. In the hurly-burly atmosphere of a presidential campaign, though, you have a delicate balance to maintain between the media and your rank-and-file supporters. Sometimes, as in the case of a photo-op with big labor and big business, the media have to take a backseat.

That doesn’t mean, though, that you can insult a reporter. It may have been an absent-minded remark, one borne out of “habit” (as he claimed in a voicemail apology to Peggy Agar, the Detroit ABC affiliate whom he had addressed), but it doesn’t make it any less sexist or condescending.

Yes, this is one incident. Sadly, though, it’s not JUST one incident. As staunch a supporter as I am of Senator Clinton, I’ll happily concede that Obama’s campaign has by and large been extraordinarily effective and respectful. The senator has refrained from engaging in the appallingly sexist rhetoric that even some of his own campaign staff have been unable to resist. (Remember Samantha Power, Obama’s foreign policy adviser, who quit following the flak she received after calling Clinton a “monster?” She then dug her own grave when, in the same interview, she referred to the two-time New York senator and attorney as “unattractive” and added, “You just look at her and think, ‘Ergh.’”)

I would be willing to forgive Obama for that show of thoughtlessness and disrespect to the Detroit reporter. He very quickly and without reservation apologized, and if he cleans up his act and gets rid of that “bad habit,” we can find it in our heart to forget too.

The bigger problem, though, is how indicative this incident is of the prevailing sexist climate that still exists in this country. The Internet blogosphere has been on the attack in the aftermath of this most recent incident. Unsurprisingly, Clinton supporters have taken advantage of the situation by calling on Obama for the remark. What’s more appalling, though, is the nasty misogyny that’s yet again been unleashed against the REPORTER. She’s been referred to as a “b—” and “a fat slob” who should consider herself “lucky” to be noticed.

While the media and public get themselves into a screaming lather about the racism in the campaign (one anonymous caller into an NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” a few months ago readily admitted that he would not vote for Obama simply because he is black), very little has been made about the very obvious and very disturbing sexism that underscores much of the discussion about Clinton, whether made on the air or in living rooms and kitchens around the country. Washington Post commentator Maria Cocco recently wrote in her column that what she will definitely not miss about the 2008 campaign is all the virulent “hatred of women” that few have publicly condemned. She specifically cites examples such as the “Bros before Hoes” “campaign” T-shirts advertised around the Internet, or the literally countless times Clinton’s been referred to as a “whore” and, of course, the B word.

Indeed, Obama himself has denigrated Clinton’s experiences as first lady in the White House as merely “having teas,” conveniently forgetting her tireless work on behalf of women around the world. (Anyone remember her speech at the UN Convention on Women in Beijing in 1995, where she led the U.S. delegation? Very big deal.) Apparently, working on behalf of women’s rights doesn’t count as “experience,” the implication being that the only issues worth bothering about are those that men deem important.

Yes, we have come a long way in this country from the time when women couldn’t own property or even open a bank account in their name, when they couldn’t vote, or when they were specifically excluded from certain jobs (such as, oh, attorney) because of their sex. On the other hand, the chilling misogyny that has characterized the 2008 presidential campaign and the relative silence — even from Clinton’s most ardent supporters — that has greeted it is indicative that we still have a long, long way to go.

Our chances of seeing a woman president in the White House come January 2009 appear to be shrinking everyday. I hope that we won’t have to wait another four to eight years before we see an improvement in the way women are treated in the public arena, especially intelligent and powerful women. In the meantime, I also hope that those of us who are bothered by it enough will find the courage to speak up and call it for what it is: an assault on our dignity as human beings.

Marjorie Asturias-Lochlaer is a freelance writer living in Grand Junction. Reach her at marjorie.asturias@gmail.com.