You are right. On further review, I give Schumer too much credit for being a smart politician. It was a major blunder on his part, to trigger the filibuster battle on the Gorsuch nomination.
So I take it back, Schumer is not so smart. He would have been wiser to not fight it on the Gorsuch nomination, in order to preserve that rule for another battle.
Placing Gorsuch on the Supreme Court did not tip the balance of the court, since one conservative replaced another. But the Kavanaugh nomination threatens to tip that balance, as the wishy washy Kennedy will be replaced by a strong conservative. In retrospect, Schumer would have been smarter to save the filibuster fight for this nomination, rather than the Gorsuch nomination.
Has the swing Justice Kennedy’s replacement been hiding in the form of Chief Justice Roberts?