LIMA, Ohio – The electronic billboard outside the Allen County Republican Party’s BBQ chicken dinner Friday night may have had one too many words for his liking — “Guest Speaker John Boehner” – but inside, the Minority Leader appeared to be having fun.

“You all remember when Ronald Reagan was president of the United States?” the House Minority Leader asked the crowd of about 200 Republicans. “We had Bob Hope and we had Johnny Cash.”

“Think about where we are today, we have President Obama and we have no hope, we have no cash,” he said, drawing laughter and cheers.

Boehner said the government had disrespected the American people, and he asked whether the audience believed they had to accept that treatment.

“No!” they replied.

“Hell no you don’t!” Boehner affirmed, a refrain he has repeated in his campaign events for several weeks.

Wearing an Ohio State University windbreaker and speaking from a podium just north of his home district, Boehner promised that if Republicans win back the majority, they will reform their own bad spending habits.

“We’ve got big problems, we’ve got some big expenses out there that we don’t have the money to pay for. I’ve watched leaders for 20 years look at these big problems and it was kind of like they look up at the top of the mountain, they’d see how steep it was and they’d decide to kick the can down the road,” Boehner said. A new GOP majority would attempt to begin tackling those problems, Boehner said, ticking off a list of familiar proposals including cutting federal spending, limiting taxes and simplifying the legislative process so the impact of a bill is more obvious.

And while he predicted that Republicans will have a “big night on Tuesday night,” Boehner said that he and other elected officials still need help. He urged the group to continue making phone calls and prodding voters to get to the polls.

The Allen County event was Boehner’s sixth stop Friday, and he will continue stumping across the state this weekend. The Minority Leader plans to vote in Ohio on Tuesday morning then return to Washington to watch the election returns at an event organized by the National Republican Congressional Committee.