PANAMA CITY — Supporters of Congressman Steve Southerland said during a campaign rally Saturday night that his views reflect those of Northwest Florida while his opponent Gwen Graham has a liberal agenda supported by outside interests.
Polls show the race too close to call.
The more than 250 supporters who attended the Get Out The vote event at the Boat Barn on Calhoun Avenue were encouraged to contact their friends to vote for Southerland.
Boiled peanuts and drinks were served, and Gary Van Brocklin strummed his guitar and played songs by artists such as Jimmy Buffett and Johnny Cash. A large American flag was on the wall behind the podium.
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Joining Southerland on the stage were Lt. Col. Allen West; Congressman Tom Graves, R-Ga.; Jimmy Patronis, who is vacating his state House District 6 seat because of term limitations; and state Rep. Marti Coley, R-Marianna.
West is a war veteran who became the first Republican African-American congressman from Florida since Reconstruction when he was elected as part of the Tea Party movement in 2010. He was defeated in his 2012 re-election bid in the Florida’s 22nd Congressional District.
West said Graham, who is the daughter of former Florida governor and Sen. Bob Graham, is running on a family name.
He said Southerland has North Florida values.
“You choose between a person that is a reflection of your values, a person that has grown up with you, a person that inculcates and believes in all of those simple principles that make America the greatest nation that he world has ever known,” West said. “We don’t need to be choosing people based on upon familial exceptionalism or elitism, and that is what is happening right here in your congressional district.”
Southerland said Graham’s supporters include Nancy Pelosi and that more than 70 percent of Graham’s campaign contributions have come from outside the district. He said his numbers are just the opposite.
He also said his views have been constantly distorted by the Graham campaign.
Southerland said he has been criticized by many people with liberal agendas, and throughout the campaign has been stalked by trackers tied to the Democratic Party who have tried to tape his every comment for a sound bite to distort his views.
“(They) have been stalking me, filming me, dying for me to make a mistake, only wanting to create a small blurb on a headline so the rest of those in the liberal media can take it and fan it,” he said.
He said his liberal critics have been wide ranging; everyone from Barbra Streisand to Bill Maher.
“I can tell you (Maher) didn’t grow up in a house like this one,” Southerland said, referring to his own family that attended Saturday’s rally. “When Bill Maher doesn’t like you, you are over the target.”
Graves said he came to the rally because his family and Southerland’s are close, and he and Southerland work well together in Congress.
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“There has been a lot of money spent in this race, as we’ve heard, and as we’ve all seen there is a lot of folks from outside of this district that have spent a lot of money to tell you how bad a guy this is,” Graves said. “They have no role in doing that because you know who he is. You know what kind of person he is. You know his character.”
Coley said Southerland has been a breath of fresh air in Washington, D.C.
“We saw him buck not only the Democrats, but occasionally he even bucked his own party because he looked at us in North Florida and said, ‘What is the best for them?’ ” she said.