LAKE WYLIE, S.C. -- South Carolina's longest-serving congressman pointed to his experience Tuesday in asking voters to give him a 15th term, while his challenger said the incumbent's support of the health care overhaul and other Democratic agenda items was the reason to replace him.
It was the first debate for Democratic U.S. Rep. John Spratt and freshman state Sen. Mick Mulvaney, and it won't be viewed by anyone other than the 200 or so people attending the $30-per-person event in a gated, Lake Wylie community just south of Charlotte, N.C.
Spratt's campaign asked that no video or audio recordings be allowed, which Mulvaney said he reluctantly agreed to because he offered to debate the incumbent on any condition. After the event, Spratt explained he initially wanted an informal setting, in which the candidates would cater to the audience, not any TV cameras, and didn't want someone waiting for a "gotcha" moment that could be taken out of context.
But after the condition sparked criticism, and the event turned into a much bigger affair, Spratt says he didn't have a problem with it after all.
"This went back to a totally different context" as a laid-back exchange, Spratt said.
The only other debate scheduled is one sponsored by South Carolina educational television. Mulvaney said he would debate Spratt in all of the 5th District's 14 counties.
"Everyone would benefit from seeing what happened here today. The more people who are involved, the better," he said.
The candidates sparred on health care, illegal immigration, the federal deficit and taxes.
Mulvaney said repealing the new health care law should be a priority when Congress returns in January, and blasted Spratt as House Budget Committee chairman for his role in helping to push it through.
Spratt said he made the right decision to support it, saying it will be tweaked before major provisions take effect in 2014, but that its positives include letting young adults stay on parents' health plans and no longer allowing people to be dumped due to pre-existing conditions.
Mulvaney acknowledged a repeal is unlikely, since Congress wouldn't be able to overturn the president's veto. Still, he called undoing the law's requirements on businesses essential to job growth, and said the help and exemptions for small businesses actually serve as disincentives for companies to grow or pay employees high salaries.
"It's not just about health care. It's about health care, spending and jobs," Mulvaney said.
The biggest applause of the night in the conservative crowd came as Mulvaney said small businesses don't need government, but rather "need government to get out of the way."
He said the Bush tax cuts that expire in January should be extended, including the estate tax, because a family member's death should not trigger more taxes. Spratt said he's willing to support a year or two extension of the Bush tax cuts, depending on what else was in the bill. On the so-called death tax, Spratt says he supports a per-person cap of $3.5 million before taxes kick in.
Spratt faces perhaps the toughest race of his career, as tea party anger against government spending combines with his link to Democratic leadership in an anti-incumbency year.
But he said he deserves another term because of his "seniority, experience, a proven ability and a track record of getting things done."
Spratt said he's been fighting budget deficits for 28 years, and says his experience - including his work on the 1997 balanced budget agreement - is needed to bring the budget under control. He blames former President Bush for turning projected budget surpluses into deficits with big tax cuts and costly wars.
Mulvaney says Spratt was right to criticize spending under Bush, but counters he should be standing up to his fellow Democrats now, rather than voting for federal bailouts. Mulvaney said the nation's biggest threat is "our own internal inability to handle our finances."
The current annual deficit is an estimated $1.5 trillion. In 2007, it was $161.5 billion.
The district runs for nearly 200 miles across the northern part of the state. Much of it is rural, but the increasingly conservative York County, which is Spratt's home, accounts for 30 percent of its voters. Mulvaney grew up in Charlotte, but lives in the Indian Land community of Lancaster County. He served one term in the South Carolina House before winning his Senate seat in 2008.
