Does the GOP's most reliable human talking point, Fred Barnes, see the writing on the wall that Democrats might just have the votes to pass health care? Perhaps, because in his Journal op-ed today, Barnes signals an interesting new avenue of attack: Even if health care is passed, conservatives will never stop complaining and attacking it.

From Barnes [emphasis added]

America will be in a constant health-care war if ObamaCare is enacted. Passage wouldn't end the health-care debate. Rather, it would perpetuate ObamaCare as the dominant issue for decades to come, reshape politics, create an annual funding crisis in Congress, and generate a spate of angry lawsuits.

And this:

If ObamaCare passes, sooner or later the backlash against it would morph into a movement to repeal it. Republicans would likely make repeal a top issue in congressional elections this November. The GOP is expected to win a substantial number of seats in Congress this fall. If Republicans take control of the House or Senate or both, clashes over health care would be unavoidable.

To me this reads more like a threat than a reasoned argument for not passing health care reform. Are Democrats really supposed to read that and say to themselves, 'OMG, not only are Republicans against health care reform, but they're going keep being against it for years to come'? Since when do majority parties not do something because the party out of power promises to stomp their feet for a really, really long time?

Yet that's precisely the argument Barnes is making -- Dems can avoid right-wing headaches if they just walk away from health care.

Not that I doubt the resolve Barnes advertises. Anyone who remembers the Clinton years, and specifically impeachment and Whitewater, certainly understands the right-wing desire to wage political warfare indefinitely, and to litigate their political differences if possible. And that's certainly the kind of combat the right-wing media crave.

Indeed, there's no doubt in my mind that if health care reform passes, Fox News is going to keep the issue front and center for the rest of this decade, if necessary. And I assume Democrats understand that the GOP Noise Machine is never going to let go of the hot-button issue. (It's good for ratings.)

Still, it's rather curious to watch a GOP pundit like Barnes spell out how future attacks and unpleasantness (i.e. it's “only the beginning”) are reasons for Democrats not to pass health care reform.