Dem. control will lead to bipartisanship

Democrats are looking to next Tuesday, Election Day, with eager anticipation. They're hoping for a possible net gain of dozens of seats in the House of Representatives. Speaker Nancy Pelosi claims solidifying a Democratic majority would actually increase bipartisanship in Washington.

Nancy Pelosi believes many of the seats held by the "radical right wing" of the Republican Party will be lost to Democrats, leaving a GOP caucus that is more moderate, and more willing to work with Democrats.

"I would like to get us up to 250 seats, which means we would have to net gain 15 in the House, so that's what I'm working for," said Pelosi.

In an interview with ABC7, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi certainly down played expectations, considering political experts predict Democrats could pick up as many as 33 seats in the House of Representatives on November 4th. Whatever the net gain may be, there's no question it will partly be the result of a heavily financed, coordinated effort.

"Every race is a fight. Ours are one race at a time and we've carefully crafted each of the campaigns to the districts," said Pelosi.

Democrats now have a 36-seat advantage. Even modest gains on Election Day would give Democrats a bigger majority than Republicans enjoyed during the 12 years they ruled the House. At Google's Mountain View headquarters on Monday, Pelosi described how a bigger Democratic majority in the House would play out.

"I do tell you. If Democrats win and they have substantial majorities, the Congress of the United States will be more bipartisan," said Pelosi on Monday.

It was a comment that had many people scratching their heads, but on Wednesday, she elaborated.

"Right now, if they think they can stop you, they'll act in the most radical way. But if they know if it's going to happen anyway, they might be willing to be a part of the shaping the policy," said Pelosi.

And Pelosi predicts the same thing will happen in the Senate, if Democrats can pick up a handful of seats in that chamber. Right now they hold a slight voting majority of 51.

"I think if they can get a handful of seats, a half a dozen seats, getting up to the high 50's in the Senate, that the cooperation from some of the moderate Republicans might be different, especially with a Democratic president," said Pelosi.

House Democrats recently took out a $15 million loan to pour into the hotly contested races. That's on top of the $43 million in cash they had on hand at the beginning of this month.

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