Don Tice didn't dress in colonial garb, wave a flag, chant a slogan or even raise his voice Wednesday at a town hall meeting with Rep. Mark Critz at the Washington County Courthouse.

Mr. Tice, 61, of Peters, just asked the Johnstown Democrat a simple question emblematic of voters' moods this summer and illustrative of the challenge Democrats face in the November midterm elections:

"Do you really think that President Obama will turn the economy around?"

Last August, angry protests fueled by the tea party movement popped up at Congressional events nationwide during a summer of outrage directed primarily at the pending health care reform bill -- but also at Washington in general.

A year later, the demonstrations were less colorful, but the dissatisfaction with Washington, D.C., was still apparent in Washington, Pa.

In response to Mr. Tice, Mr. Critz said he thinks pessimism is overblown and the economy is on the rebound, though not as rapidly as everyone would like. He also brought up a much more trying time for Western Pennsylvania -- when the steel industry collapsed.

"There's so much negativity about how bad it is," Mr. Critz said. "But I've seen worse."

Mr. Critz -- who won a special election in May to replace his former boss, the late Rep. John P. Murtha -- has been on the job barely three months. At times he has broken with Democratic leadership in Congress, including voting against the Wall Street reform bill. But like many other imperiled Democratic incumbents, he is associated with Mr. Obama and the Democratic Congress in the minds of many voters -- and not in a flattering way.

During an August-recess swing through the region last week, Western Pennsylvania's four Democratic incumbent U.S. House members employed varied methods to engage constituents and explain or defend Washington policies. But the electorate they faced is undoubtedly uneasy.

Mr. Tice, a rental property owner, said he was dissatisfied with Mr. Critz's answer, and he believes the economy is getting worse. He plans to back Mr. Critz's opponent, Republican Tim Burns, in November.

"My opinion is, if I'm voting for [Mr. Critz], I'm voting for Obama," Mr. Tice said.

All four of the region's Democratic House members said they must work to convince voters -- for whom the economy is the top issue -- that the country is moving in the right direction. For those with competitive elections -- Mr. Critz and Reps. Kathy Dahlkemper, D-Erie, and Jason Altmire, D-McCandless -- it involves finding the delicate balance of defending the party's economic initiatives without appearing too close to unpopular national Democrats.

Sitting on a bench at a Vietnam veterans' picnic in Industry, Mr. Altmire defended the $787 billion stimulus package passed last year as a necessary measure to keep the nation out of a deeper hole, but acknowledged the difficulty of proving that things could have been worse.

"We avoided a meltdown, but we're not where we ought to be," Mr. Altmire said.

Meanwhile, Republican Rep. Tim Murphy of Upper. St. Clair said Democratic policies have failed -- and his constituents see it.

"I'm not sure how much people can defend this," Mr. Murphy said. "We spent several hundred billion on a stimulus bill, and the jobless numbers keep getting worse. We spent a lot of money on [the Troubled Asset Relief Program] and there are still problems with the banks. People don't see the positive turnaround. ... I think what you see is many politicians running away from it."

Mr. Altmire -- who joked about "running away from Nancy Pelosi for four years" at a candidates' stand-up comedy event in Pittsburgh on Thursday -- is backing his party's economic policies but has often positioned himself to the right of the administration and Congressional leaders.

He voted against the health care reform bill because he said it didn't do enough to rein in costs. He also opposes the construction of a mosque near Ground Zero in Manhattan and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants -- the two issues he said he's heard about most from constituents this August, aside from the economy.

Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, who represents the city and a few nearby suburbs, said he hasn't heard a peep about the mosque and has been a staunch supporter of Democratic initiatives. Mr. Doyle will face Republican Melissa Haluszczak in November, but that race is not expected to be a close contest.

Speaking to a room of senior citizens in Greenfield on Wednesday, Mr. Doyle defended the health care law and mentioned a recent report from Medicare trustees indicating that the new law will prolong the Medicare trust fund's solvency. Staff members passed out a fact sheet about the law and how it affects seniors.

Mr. Doyle also used a popular Democratic argument against Republicans, claiming they will seek to turn Social Security into private investment accounts. A plan to do so in 2006 didn't make it far, though some prominent Republicans have mentioned privatization as a possibility if they retake Congress.

When Mr. Doyle finished his brief speech and asked for questions, he received only two. One man asked how he could get a tour of the White House. Another asked if there will be a cost of living increase for Social Security recipients this year.

"I think the temperature is lower this summer," Mr. Doyle said.

The energy this summer has turned from legislative struggles to campaigning. Though local House members have yet to hit the campaign trail full-swing, they are doing the requisite fundraising this August, and at official appearances they are often bombarded with campaign questions.

At the veterans' picnic, Bart Farzati, an officer of the group's Beaver County chapter, let Mr. Altmire know that despite a chance to meet the congressman's Republican opponent, Edgeworth attorney Keith Rothfus, he would be firmly in the incumbent's camp come November.

Skip Haswell, president of the Beaver County chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America, agreed. He's no fan of Mr. Obama or Democrats in Congress, but he said he was impressed by Mr. Altmire's focus on veterans' issues and his office's responsiveness.

"Jason, and people like him, I trust because he's proved himself," Mr. Haswell said.

Democrats have not articulated a national agenda along the lines of their "New Direction for America" in 2006 when they took over the House, instead emphasizing regional concerns. Mr. Altmire said constituent services are a linchpin of what he provides, and he spoke with pride about a $200,000 federal grant announced last week for the Farrell School District libraries in Mercer County.

"That's what people remember," he said. "You build up a reputation for responding to their concerns."

Mr. Critz's special-election victory in May was widely considered a triumph of his emphasis on local over national issues.

During his town hall meeting last week in Washington County, he focused on veterans' issues, bringing along local officials to handle individual concerns. A previous town hall, he said, was dominated by questions about the Marcellus Shale natural gas reserves.

The next day he headed north to Kittanning, Armstrong County, for the annual ARMTech defense technology expo in which local companies show off innovations to members of Congress and such defense-industry behemoths as Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

Mr. Critz, Ms. Dahlkemper and Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, strode the aisles and chatted with business leaders in the same complex where, a year ago, Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., met thousands of protesters at a contentious town hall.

Ms. Dahlkemper, a freshman who faces former Butler councilman Mike Kelly in a race watched nationally, said developing job opportunities in her district has been her primary goal -- through ARMTech and other means.

She has spent a lot of her time at home explaining the merits of the health care law and Democratic economic policies, and she said she's been hearing positive feedback on the local economy.

Most striking, she said, is how the atmosphere at home differs from the maelstrom in D.C.

"You come home and you start to see reality," she said. "What we dissect to death in Washington, nobody at home is talking about. They're more concerned about, 'Do I have a job today?' "

Washington correspondent Daniel Malloy writes the "Pittsburgh On The Potomac" blog exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.