Les Spencer is a gun-totin’ redneck who loves to hunt and fish.
It says so right on his shirt, at least about the redneck part.
He’s a Missouri good ol’ boy, about 60 years old. He comes from a town called Rolla, smack in the middle of Missouri, between Springfield and St. Louis.
On Sunday, he stood with his buddy Tony Viessman outside the entrance to the Pepsi Center, site of this year’s Democratic National Convention, holding a sign reading “Rednecks for Obama.”
His mid-Western drawl is thick as he talked about why Barack Obama is his candidate for president.
“People are voting against their own interests,” he said , referring to those who make $30,000 a year and have a tough time affording healthcare.
He said he can’t understand why his fellow rednecks would want to vote for a Republican, a party he claims does little to help the average working man.
“He’s the right man for the job,” Spencer said of Obama. “I trust him.
“I’m not worried about Obama taking away my guns,” apparently a fear among many of his friends who say they “‘wouldn’t vote for that black son of a gun.'”
Spencer said he does what he can to try and convince them otherwise, assuring his friends Obama has no interest in stripping away the right of law-abiding gun owners to head into the woods and hunt.
Spencer said he and his buddy are not part of any officially funded group or coalition.
He said they came to Denver on “their own dime” to show support. Viessman’s daughter, who happens to be a doctor, is setting up their Web site, and took six months off work to volunteer for Obama’s campaign, Spencer said.
On Obama’s official campaign Web site there’s is a profile of a group called “Rednecks for Obama.” Another post on the site lists a group called “Southside VA Rural Rednecks fer’ Obama.”
Visitors to the site are allowed to create groups, blog and make friends and list events, which creates ample opportunity for a robust social-networking environment. And it appears the rednecks are taking part.
Techie rednecks? What is the world coming to?
