If I have to explain...

...you wouldn't understand.

President Bush hopped on a Harley-Davidson at the York, PA assembly plant on Wednesday, as he made an election year pitch for Republican stewardship of the economy...and to raise money for former Pittsburgh Steelers star Lynn Swann, who is running for Governor here.

Cheers and applause erupted inside the Harley plant when Bush straddled a high-end model painted blue and white and revved its engine again and again. Climbing down, he ripped off blue-tinted safety glasses that he insisted made him look like rock star Bono and jokingly struck a pose intended to show a hip side.

"I'm just looking so far," Bush said during a tour of the plant where 3,200 employees work around the clock on shiny motorcycles that move slowly around the assembly floor on tracks. "I'll let Josh Bolten ride these things," Bush said of his chief of staff, known as a motorcycle enthusiast.

Of course the Harley-Davidson Motor Company is well known as an American icon...as well as an American success story.

Consequently, it makes for a good example of what's right with the U.S. economy.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the country which buys the second most Harleys, after the U.S. of course, is Japan. They have also recently broken into the Chinese market. Naturally, that's just the proverbial "drop in the bucket" compared to the trade deficit, but it's a fascinating little factoid nevertheless.

I certainly enjoy riding mine...