Women voters rally to support Steve Southerland

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Congressman Steve Southerland serenaded a couple hundred supporters Saturday with his own rendition of Ben E. King’s classic “Stand by Me” at the close of a Women for Southerland rally.

After he sang “darling, darling, stand by me,” that’s what the ladies in the Aaron Bessant Park amphitheater did on the heels of opponents asserting Southerland’s agenda to be lopsided on women’s issues.

“We have come together today to support one of the best not based on gender, but principles and ideas,” Ann Mitchell, co-chair of Women for Southerland, told the crowd as she opened the rally.

Women for Southerland called on a handful of well-established women Republicans to speak on behalf of the husband and father of four daughters as a solid leader who operates on down-home family values.

“One of the first things you get to know about Steve is he is passionate about what he loves and cares for,” Panama City Beach Mayor Gayle Oberst said.

Oberst said Southerland has done a great job representing his party and Floridians in Washington’s “unfriendly environment.”

The rally largely addressed mudslinging between Southerland and Gwen Graham, Southerland’s Democratic opponent for Florida’s District 2 congressional seat, over Southerland’s alleged views on women’s issues.

“Let me talk about this fabricated war on women,” said U.S. Rep. Martha Roby of Alabama. “This is about the other side not having anything to talk about.”

Eric Conrad of Graham’s press team responded by criticizing the rally, saying the coalition failed to meet their goal of launching the sizeable rally they’d planned.

“On top of that, if anyone came to the rally hoping to hear about what Congressman Southerland has done to protect women or his plan to stand up for their rights in Congress, they would have left disappointed,” Conrad said in an email to the media. “There wasn’t a single mention of issues like Equal Pay or the Violence Against Women Act, both of which Congressman Southerland has voted against.”

State Rep. Marti Coley said at the rally that Graham simply was using worn out tactics to paint Southerland as lethargic on women’s issues, and defended Southerland’s scrutiny of political bills.

U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis, who traveled to Panama City Beach from Wyoming, told the crowd she knows Southerland speaks from his heart.

“You need someone who can articulate what women want in this country and this community,” said Lummis, who added that’s not something one has to be a woman to do.

When Southerland finally spoke, he put the “war on women” issue aside and said the war on anything in this country is “against everything we hold true.”

Southerland said he and Graham have opposing views on where the authority belongs when sorting out political issues.

“We differ because I believe in the power of the individual. My opponent believes in the power of government,” he said. “And I don’t think that’s insignificant.”

With the heavy focus on women’s issues, Mitchell said women voters have a real influence on Election Day. She said in an interview that 53 percent of voters in the 2012 elections were women who care about all issues just as much as men.

She said Women for Southerland recognizes women as powerful voters who lead the way as heads of households and business owners.

“We cannot get mired down in these silly issues,” Mitchell said. “Every issue is a woman’s issue. Let’s stop playing gender politics.”