Will Obama photo help or hurt Spratt? | The Herald

Toward the end of the flight, U.S. Rep. John Spratt was ushered into President Barack Obama's office aboard Air Force One.

The pair spent 10 or 15 minutes conferring on budget matters, then Spratt gave the president a primer on how the Charlotte region, and much of the 5th Congressional District, has struggled with the collapse of textiles.

Once on the ground in Charlotte, Obama motioned for Spratt to join him on the walk down from Air Force One.

"He said, 'Come on, John,'" Spratt recalled. "I said, 'Mr. President, you go first.'"

TV images showed Obama bounding down the steps, trailed closely by a man in a slightly rumpled suit carrying a brown briefcase. Spratt later called it "the most intact" of the four briefcases he owns.

The presidential photo-op marked an unusual moment for Spratt, who has typically kept his distance from national Democratic figures.

Southern Democrats can suffer politically for becoming too closely linked with the national party. Spratt's 5th District leans conservative; in the 2008 presidential election, 53 percent of voters chose Republican John McCain over Obama.

Given his health issues over the past year - culminating in the disclosure of his Parkinson's disease last week - the appearance might have been intended to showcase Spratt's importance, said Furman University political scientist Danielle Vinson.

"It's a reminder that Spratt is a player in Washington," Vinson said. "He has power and respect, and it's important for him to make people aware of that, especially given the concerns about his health."

The images drew sharp words from state Sen. Mick Mulvaney, Spratt's Republican challenger in the fall election. They represent how Spratt has changed, Mulvaney said.

"There was a time when Congressman Spratt never would have supported those sorts of policies, let alone stand proudly beside a president who was pushing them."

Some protesters held Mulvaney campaign signs as they lined the streets waiting for Obama's motorcade.

Spratt said he didn't view the appearance with Obama through a political lens. Aboard Air Force One, he said, the pair talked mostly about a bipartisan panel that will study the federal deficit.

"I'm working with the administration to produce a budget, to get a fiscal commission up and running," Spratt said. "For all of this to succeed involves having a working relationship with the White House."

Spratt won't be able to run away from Democrats this year - so he might as well not try, said Chris Cooper, a political scientist at Western Carolina University and former Rock Hill resident.

Since Obama took office in 2008, he's found a reliable supporter in Spratt on health care reform, stimulus and cap-and-trade environmental legislation.

"It's hard to portray yourself as a moderate candidate when you've supported the Democrats on the three most salient bills of the past year," Cooper said.

Cooper added: "If he does anything else, Mulvaney will almost certainly label him a flip-flopper."

A poll released in February showed Spratt holding a 46-to-39-percentage-point lead over Mulvaney. Conducted by Raleigh, N.C.-based Public Policy Polling, it was the first survey taken this year in the 5th Congressional District, which stretches across 14 S.C. counties, including York, Chester and Lancaster.

Democrats are bracing for a tough political season amid unrest over health care and the economy. Photo-op or not, Spratt likely will face his most completive re-election contest in years, Cooper and other analysts say.