In the final hours of the health-care debate, Rep. Eric Cantor (R., Va.), the GOP whip, tells National Review Online that Democrats have “false momentum.”

“They can’t have any more than 37 Democrats vote against this bill,” Cantor says. “At this point, they’re way above that. Given what this bill is about, they’re having a lot of difficulty.”

“We’re staying very focused and very close to the Stupak group,” he adds. “We’re also staying very close with Democrats in vulnerable districts — districts that overwhelming oppose this bill due to its fiscal chicanery.”

And what’s Cantor saying to pro-life Democrats being tempted by Pelosi maneuvers? “Those truly committed to the decades-old tradition that we ought not to allow government-funded abortion should see right through that,” he says. “They know that there is no prospect of anything but that happening if this bill becomes law.”