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Think Progress has James Inhofe taking DeMint's "Waterloo" one further: killing healthcare reform will mean "a huge gain" for Republicans in 2010.

Appearing on Janet Parshall’s radio show yesterday, Inhofe argued that the defeat of President Clinton’s health care reform “started the demise of Bill Clinton that led to the 1994 Republican takeover of the House and the Senate.” He then added that he is now “tracking the demise” of Obama’s health care plans and it is making him “optimistic”: INHOFE: They ought to know, they ought to know from history. This is a losing proposition for them. And for those out there who believe, that would like to have something optimistic to look at, we are plotting the demise on a week by week basis of where Bill Clinton was in 1993 and where Obama is today and his demise ratio is greater than Clinton’s was in 1993. So, he’s trying to do the same things, except more extreme. .... Inhofe also appeared on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show yesterday, where he was asked if Republicans had the votes “to block health care, the radical stuff in the Senate.” Inhofe said he thought they did: INHOFE: Oh, I think so. I really do. In fact, there’ll be a lot of Democrats. You know, I liken it to the cap and trade thing. Now that’s the one that I’ve been kind of in charge of for ten years, and we know where we are on that now. We know that if, as long as people keep talking the way they are right now, we’re going to defeat it. They only have 34 votes. They need 60 votes. I’d say health care right now is somewhere in the neighborhood of, they have maybe 45 votes. But every day, they lose votes, because people find out what it is, what it’s going to do, and what it’s not going to do. When you tell people that the mortality rate in Canada is 25% higher for breast cancer, 18% higher for prostate cancer, you know, they say why in the world would we emulate a system like that? This is life threatening. And so we have all the issues on our side on this thing, and I think, you know, I just hope the President keeps talking about it, keeps trying to rush it through. We can stall it. And that’s going to be a huge gain for those of us who want to turn this thing over in the 2010 election.

He's also brutally honest about why they're trying to delay this thing:

“If he is unsuccessful — which I anticipate and will predict he is — on getting a vote prior to the August recess, then I would say there’s no way in the world they’re going to get this done this year,” said Inhofe. “And next year would not be any easier.”

Two things here to note: delay is the Republicans' best hope for killing reform. Playing into that, as Reid appears to be willing to do by giving in now on meeting the August recess deadline, is just a free gift to the Inhofe/DeMint crowd, the Republicans that are so willing to play politics with our lives.

But the other consideration, from another Think Progress story: Republican opposition to this isn't monolithic. "Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is offering the opposite advice. 'If we don’t do something on health-care reform,' Grassley said, 'the voters are more apt to blame Republicans than Democrats.'” Now, you're not going to be hearing "GOP in disarray" stories from the traditional media, but a smart Democratic leadership in the Senate could be playing divide and conquer here. Grassley, the key GOPer in health care reform, has basically cried "uncle"--he sees how critical it is to 2010. Use that.

Senate leadership needs to use it by staying in session through August to get this done. Some calls and e-mails to Harry Reid might help convince him of that. And sign on to the FDL petition telling your representative that we must pass health care reform before the House takes a vacation.