Spratt, Mulvaney race emblematic of anti-incumbent mood

Spratt, like many moderate Democrats, faced a tough crowd at a town hall meeting last August during the congressional debate over health care, and the discontent has not subsided since then.

“The choice is pretty clear. John Spratt clearly is a big government kind of guy,” Thompson said. “He thinks that’s the solution to all of our ills, and I think the people have wised up to the fact that that is not the best path for us to be on.”

Spratt and Mulvaney will face off in the race’s first debate Tuesday evening at a country club in Lake Wylie, S.C., and the two are already engaged in pre-debate posturing. Television cameras were banned from the debate at Spratt’s request, a demand that Mulvaney criticized as “refusing the most basic expectations of transparency.”