I can understand that she’s frustrated, but wasn’t this a bit much?

Hurt, incensed and moved to tears, mayoral challenger Dorothy Brown on Friday accused state Sen. James Meeks of sexism and calling her a “loser” unworthy of endorsement in her race against Mayor Richard Daley.

“I am not a loser. I am a winner. I am the epitome of the American dream and Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream,” said Brown, clerk of the circuit court.

“To make the kind of statement he made in the face of my hard work — the challenges and discrimination I have overcome in growing up poor and becoming a respected countywide elected official in this town — I see it as a direct disrespect for me as a human being, as a woman and as an African-American.”

Brown said the Meeks insult is particularly infuriating on the heels of the all-but-endorsement of Daley by vanquished mayoral challenger Bobby Rush.

Meeks, of course, said he wouldn’t be backing any losers when asked if he would endorse Brown.

But he didn’t exactly smooth things over with his reply:

“Why would she automatically assume that means her?” Meeks said. “Why would she declare herself as the loser?”

Meeks said his appearance with Daley was not “part of any political campaign of any candidate.”

“For her to take a statement like that and automatically crown herself as the loser, I feel real bad for her for doing that,” Meeks said. “I’ve supported her in every race she’s been in, and she’s a nice person.”

And…

“Just because she doesn’t have a possible chance of winning this particular election, it doesn’t mean my comments are sexist. It’s reality.”

The Chicago Reader’s new blog “Clout City” also covered Brown’s presser and closed with this:

In fact, the toughest question of the afternoon, posed by a veteran sitting on a table to the side, had nothing to do with Meeks or Daley: “You know, Harold Washington once said, ‘Politics ain’t beanbag.’ Do you think you have thick enough skin to do this?”

Brown gripped the podium and gazed back at him. Maybe she couldn’t get outraged—not on public display, at least—but she could show everyone that she was serious. “Yes,” she said. “I’m in this race to win it.”