Some of us who also carry union cards agree with Sen. John Kerry who saw through Bush's phony photo-op. "We don't need a president who just says, 'Gentlemen, start your engines,’" the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee declared. "We need a president who says, 'America, let's start our economy and put people back to work.’"

NASCAR Chairman Bill France welcomed Bush to the 500. "This is George Bush country here," he beamed.

Bush came courting the so-called "NASCAR Dads." A lot of them back Bush.

Never mind that Dixie, where most NASCAR Dads live, is the poorest region in the country. Thanks to the Southern GOP and its spiritual forbears, the segregationist and anti-labor Southern Democrats of old, low-wage, non-union jobs and right-to-work laws are the rule in the ex-Confederate states.

No doubt, NASCAR Dads are well represented among the 10 million jobless workers in Bush's "recovery." "...At the present rate of job creation it will take two and a half more years just to reach the number of jobs that the country had when he took office," newspaper columnist Mark Weisbrot wrote.

What do NASCAR Dads think Bush has done for them except pander to what one western Kentucky labor leader calls the "three Gs -- God, Guns and Gays?"

Bush wants to make it harder for anybody to have a union and to bargain collectively for better pay, benefits and working conditions. The president is a strong supporter of right-to-work laws. His own Lone Star State Republican party calls for "the adoption of a National Right-To-Work Act providing the same kind of protection from labor unions as is enjoyed by Texans under the State Right-to-Work laws."

Do NASCAR Dads think it is a good idea to waive "buy American" laws, gut "buy American" protections and oppose expanding "buy American" provisions for U.S. defense purchases? Bush does.

Do NASCAR Dads want to eliminate all U.S. tariffs on manufactured imports, thus ensuring that the U.S. will lose leverage over unfair trade practices and violations of workers’ rights abroad? Bush does.

Do NASCAR Dads favor expanding the job-exporting North American Free Trade Agreement to Central America and, ultimately, to the whole Western Hemisphere as part of the Free Trade Area of the Americas? Bush does.

Do NASCAR Dads back Bush’s refusal to challenge China on its illegal manipulation of currency, a practice that puts U.S. manufacturers at a big disadvantage?

Do NASCAR Dads welcome changes in the tax laws that would add incentives for U.S. companies to ship more jobs and production out of the country? Bush does.

Do NASCAR Dads believe it is wise to lift tariffs on imported steel, jeopardizing the future of the vital U.S steel industry? Bush does.

Do NASCAR Dads agree with Bush’s refusal to provide relief for several U.S. manufacturers hurt by the unfair practices of foreign manufacturers?

Do NASCAR Dads who are proud of their Chevy, GMC, Ford and Dodge pickups support the proposed U.S.-Thailand Free Trade Agreement, a pact that could threaten the U.S. pickup truck industry? Bush does.

The NASCAR Dads probably would have booed Kerry had he photo-opped at the 500. Never mind that he has done a ton more for working people north and south of the Mason-Dixon Line than Dubya ever has.

Bush was quite a sight at Daytona, even on our TV, where I watched the son of wealth and privilege don a black leather NASCAR jacket, thicken his Texas twang and play bubba. When Dubya's blueblooded daddy was president, he munched pork rinds and pitched horseshoes. George Herbert Walker Bush is a bogus bubba, too.

You'd think real bubbas would resent the Bush father and son make-believe.

Dubya proved he was just trolling for votes at the 500. He hopped on Air Force One and flew away long before Dale Jr. took the checkered flag. I'd almost bet he didn't know Dale Jr. from Dale Evans unless one of his handlers read him the program.

Bush figured he knew his audience. NASCAR Dads are supposed to be patriotic and pro-military. "I like speed," the president said, reminding everybody he "flew jets" in the Air National Guard.

Dubya didn't say he used his family name to get in the Guard and get out of Vietnam. A lot of fiftysomething NASCAR Dads didn't have the pull to land a rare and coveted Guard or Reserve slot. They went to Vietnam.

Another man who wants to live in the White House didn't play on his family pedigree to duck Vietnam. His daddy was rich and powerful, too.

The other guy served in Vietnam as a gunboat officer. He got shot at plenty of times on the Mekong River and has a trio of Purple Hearts to prove it. He earned a Silver Star and a Bronze Star for bravery.

His name is John Kerry.

Kerry spoke out against the war, but after he was home and out of uniform. Bush backed the war all the way, but let others do the fighting.

Never was heard (on camera anyway) a discouraging word for Dubya at the 500. France assured the president he would be among friends.

So Dubya did Daytona.

Air Force One buzzed the speedway before Bush commanded "Gentlemen, start your engines." The presidential motorcade also slow-lapped the track.

Mean ole Tim Russert, who barbecued Bush on the Today Show, was nowhere to be seen. While pit crews readied the Chevys, Dodges, Fords and Pontiacs (street versions of the stock cars are made by the UAW, a member union in the AFL-CIO, which endorsed Kerry) for the race, Dubya fielded pattycake questions from a golly-gee-Mr.-President "race reporter."

Bush got almost misty-eyed for the TV cameras when Lee Greenwood (another Vietnam-era, draft-dodging Republican) crooned "God Bless the U.S.A." With the cameras finally focused on the big race, Dubya decamped.

I wonder how many NASCAR Dads had to watch the 500 on TV because they were out of work and couldn’t afford a ticket. I wonder how many will pop in another Greenwood CD and, come November, vote for Dubya again.