The Hill News

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell said Thursday that there was a reasonable chance of a double-dip recession, and that his state would be "preparing for the worst."

The chairman of the Republican Governor's Association blamed President Obama for a souring economy in an interview Thursday on Fox Business Network.

{mosads}"I think there's some reasonable chance from the economist's predictions that there's another dip in the economy, we're preparing for the worst even though we've had surpluses," McDonnell said.

The Virginia governor said that unfunded mandates from the federal government were "budget busters" that threatened state economies.

"The unfunded mandates from the federal government - environmental mandates, mental health, the Obamacare mandates - are billions of dollars in unfunded mandates," McDonnell said.

McDonnell - among the post popular Republicans in the party, and one of the few politicians on either side of the aisle to carry positive favorability ratings - has had top Republican presidential candidates vying for his attention. Texas governor Rick Perry joined McDonnell for a fundraiser in Richmond earlier this month, and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has been in regular contact with the governor. McDonnell has said that he would consider joining the party's ticket as a vice presidential nominee, if asked.

Some of McDonnell's charm also comes from his ability to stay on point - even while exhausting Virginia's economic success, being sure to avoid mention of the federal government's sizable role in the state economy, and getting in subtle jabs at the president's jobs and budget plans.

"We're not going to raise taxes, we're going to raise revenues through economic growth," McDonnell said. "I think what we've done is working, we've done what we're good at in Virginia."