House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) spent the weekend raising money for some of his friends in the Rust Belt. According to his political organization The Freedom Project, Boehner raised cash for GOP Reps. Tim Murphy and Phil English and former Rep. Melissa Hart, who is running to get her old House seat back in suburban Pittsburgh.

Boehner also did a public event for the former Congresswoman in Cranberry Township, where the two Republicans called on freshman Rep. Jason Altmire (D) to denounce Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama’s (Ill.) widely publicized “bitter” comments.

“With each passing day, it has becomes more clear that Jason Altmire pays more attention to his national political profile than his constituents’ concerns,” Hart said in a statement. “Gov. [Ed] Rendell and other top Democrats have rightly criticized Obama’s remarks.”

Altmire has not endorsed anyone in the Democratic presidential contest, but Hart’s campaign alleged that he has attended events for Obama in the Keystone State.

But while Hart and Boehner tried to link Altmire to Obama, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee tried to tar Republicans with the economic record of their presumed presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).

“In the course of his trip, I hope John Boehner explained to the people of Pennsylvania whether or not he agrees with Sen. McCain’s unbelievably out-of-touch assessment that there has been great economic progress under George W. Bush,” DCCC spokesman Doug Thornell said. “These sorts of comments are going to sink House Republicans in November.”

— Shira Toeplitz