It is often said of the ignorant poor that they have a lot of pride, because it is the only thing they can afford. Well, perhaps it's true. But I must tell you, if someone said all REDNECKS raise your hand, I'd have to raise mine. No, to be honest, I'd raise my hand with a great deal of pride. It is a condition I share with a lot of people, both black and white, in Alabama. Maybe that is why I feel at home here more than anywhere I've lived in my life. It is true that we sometimes tend to wear our feelings somewhat close to the surface. Although it makes some of us a bit colorful, it is probably the down side to being a redneck. If you elect me as president you will not get someone with the demur of a George Bush Sr. or a John Kennedy. I do not share their advantage of growing up in a position of security and confidence that comes with a family of wealth and prominence.

But there is an up side as well.  REDNECKS have a tendency to be very what-you-see-is-what-you-get people, very straight forward and honest. They also have a simple, straight forward approach to life, and I think it's time to take that view of both the world's as well as the nation's problems. The broad cosmopolitan view filled with deceit and posturing of the high brow set tends to confuse and confound the bulk of the world's people, (perhaps that is their intent, confuse'em, then grab their money), who actually have to perform the job of getting along with each other.

In spite of some vastly different cultures, most of the worlds 5 billion people(2012 update: 7 billion now) are REDNECKS, and I believe they would respond to a little redneck leadership. In the army we were told that vast differences in culture made it dangerous to go out among the people in Turkey, Iran, and Ethiopia, especially alone. But on base there was nothing to do but sit and drink and talk about the good old days. I hated drinking and drunks, and my good old days had yet to be realized.  Besides, we REDNECKS have a natural dislike of being told what not to do. So I went out kicking around the countryside to see what I could find, and found kindness, generosity, and a close kinship wherever I went. You might think, not bad for a redneck, but I think it was because I am a redneck.