Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart, R-Bradford Woods, laughs as first lady Laura Bush addresses supporters yesterday in Ross. Click photo for larger image.

With first lady Laura Bush leading cheers for the Republican incumbent and U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy raising funds for the Democratic challenger, the 4th Congressional District race reinforced its growing national profile yesterday.

A seat once viewed as safe for U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart, R-Bradford Woods, has garnered prominent visitors, ubiquitous advertising and increased commentary from nonpartisan Washington analysts who monitor congressional races. Democrat Jason Altmire is ranked by the latter as at least a threat to Ms. Hart's re-election, though the three-term incumbent is still considered the favorite.

Ms. Hart said at the Great Hall banquet center in Ross, after Mrs. Bush's appearance before more than 300 invited GOP campaign workers and loyalists, that she remains confident of victory based on her own campaign poll a week ago showing her 12 points ahead. Other polls have pegged the race as much closer.

Mrs. Bush's travels around the country in recent weeks, in fact, have focused on lending support to Republican members of Congress viewed as vulnerable next Tuesday. The Bush White House and rest of the GOP leadership are hoping to prevent Democrats from gaining the 15 seats necessary for them to take control of the House of Representatives.

	Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette Protesters picket along Perry Highway in Ross while a rally is held inside the Great Hall banquet center for U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart, R- Bradford Woods, at which first lady Laura Bush appeared. Click photo for larger image.

"This is a spirited contest, and we've got great candidates," Mrs. Bush told a crowd that cheered her repeatedly. "Our candidates are depending on you" for telephone calling, door knocking and more over the next week.

Mrs. Bush pulled together two distinct parts of Ms. Hart's background -- support for victims of domestic violence and backing of the U.S. war on terror -- to suggest she deserved re-election.

The first and only female Republican from Pennsylvania to serve in Congress, Mrs. Bush noted, has backed military action that ousted the Taliban from Afghanistan and enabled girls and women there to attend school again.

"She's a role model for girls and women everywhere," Mrs. Bush said.

She added that Ms. Hart also stands solidly behind U.S. troops overseas. Mrs. Bush, Ms. Hart and Karen Santorum, the wife of U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, all emphasized in their remarks the importance of continuing the Bush administration's military policies to help curb threats around the world

At about the same time the first lady was speaking, Mr. Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, was at the Rivers Club, Downtown, addressing a private group of Altmire supporters who paid $200 each to hear him.

The event raised $10,000 for Mr. Altmire, who has said he needs every dollar possible to continue trying to match the television advertising of the better-financed incumbent.

Mr. Leahy said the challenger, making his first run for office, benefits from a national wave of dismay at the present U.S. policies in Iraq. This election, he said, is disproving the maxim of former House Speaker Tip O'Neill that "all politics is local."

"This is as incompetent as the handling of Katrina," Mr. Leahy said of the Bush foreign policy.

He said of the First Lady's visit: "It shows that the Bushes will do anything to keep [Ms. Hart] in office."

U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, said the presence of Mrs. Bush belied any claim by the congresswoman to a comfortable lead in the race.

"I guarantee you the [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee] isn't putting any money into races with a 12-point gap, and that goes for the other side, too," he said.

The Republicans who gathered at the Great Hall to hear Mrs. Bush, however, would volunteer no worries about Ms. Hart's re-election.

Several suggested the perception of a close race is driven primarily by the news media, though that won't stop them from doing all the grass-roots activities they can.

"We're down on the people level, and we know what our friends and neighbors have to say," said Beth McLaughlin of McCandless, a campaign volunteer for Ms. Hart attending with her husband, daughter and two friends. "We know who has the morals, the family values, that we want."