McDonnell predicts a GOP-takeover in U.S. House this fall

Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) predicted Monday that Democrats in the House of Representatives will lose 35 to 50 seats this November in the mid-term elections.

McDonnell said members of his party are doing a better job of addressing the economic downturn than Democrats.

"It's driving a lot of independent voters to vote Republican,'' McDonnell said on his monthly call-in show on WNIS in Norfolk. "It's how I won last year."

Virginia has its share of close congressional races this fall but McDonnell did not speak about any of them specifically.

"I think what people are interested in are the fiscal issues that are critically important to the future of our nation,'' he said. "When you look at the $13-trillion national debt...regulations, micromanaging parts of the free enterprise system, unfunded mandates on the states, particularly this health care bill, and on and on and on...I think independent voters understand you can't manage things that way."

I think Republicans have a better message. The key is to govern the way they campaigned. I hope they will do that."