House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (r) in Shelbyville with GOP congressional candidate Luke Messer. (WIBC.com photo: Eric Berman)

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor isn't impressed by a White House threat to veto any tax cut extension that doesn't raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

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There'll be a lame-duck session of Congress to try to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff" -- the expiration of Bush tax cuts coupled with automatic defense cuts. Cantor says President Obama's insistence on higher taxes is an argument for electing Mitt Romney -- but even if Obama wins, he says it won't stop Republicans from lobbying to change the president's mind. He notes Obama relented the last time the tax cuts were due to expire, after the GOP first reclaimed the House majority in 2010.

Cantor's home state of Virginia remains a tossup in the presidential race. Like Indiana, Virginia went for Obama four years ago after 40 years in the Republican column. Unlike Indiana, the state has remained competitive this year. Cantor concedes the state's economic and population growth have transformed it from a Republican stronghold to a battleground, but predicts strong conservative turnout in his own Richmond-area home base and votes from workers who depend on Pentagon and defense-industry jobs will tip the state to Romney.

Cantor was in Shelbyville to boost the Sixth District congressional candidacy of Luke Messer, who's running for the seat being vacated by Republican gubernatorial nominee Mike Pence. Messer faces Democrat Brad Bookout and Libertarian Rex Bell.