"I don't think he's going to get many votes from Democrats on the committee," Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat on the committee, told CBS' "The Early Show." "As for a filibuster, it's something we'll have to discuss. So it's not on the table or off the table right now."

Senate Judiciary Committee member Chuck Schumer got busy plotting away on the cellphone aboard a Washington, DC-New York Amtrak -- plotting Democrat strategy for the upcoming Supreme Court battle.

Schumer promised a fight over whoever the President’s nominee was: “It's not about an individual judge… It's about how it affects the overall makeup of the court.”

The chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was overheard on a long cellphone conversation with an unknown political ally, and the DRUDGE REPORT was there!

Schumer proudly declared: “We are contemplating how we are going to go to war over this.”

"The thinking, clearly, is that the chief will retire in June," said a person who has participated in these discussions. "The question is, of course, is whether he will be able to endure until then."

No one, from the most high-level administration officials to those on the periphery of the discussions, agreed to be quoted by name, both because the discussions are confidential and, just as important, because it is considered unseemly to discuss someone's serious illness.