Inside and outside the Senate, Democrats begin to lose faith in Schumer

Democrats have long found the flip phone Chuck Schumer still insists on using as an endearing quirk that illustrates how committed he is to his way of talking to all sorts of allies, all the time.

Democrats have long found the flip phone Chuck Schumer still insists on using as an endearing quirk that illustrates how committed he is to his way of talking to all sorts of allies, all the time. After how he handled the spending fight, many inside and outside the Capitol are starting to see that phone as a metaphor for a leader who’s out of date and refusing to change as politics changes radically around him. “This is not the first time that members of the caucus expressed frustration that he wasn’t as inclusive as he could have been on decision making or strategy, but the stakes of this particular vote were huge,” said one Senate Democrat, who like others, is still wary of going public with attacks on the leader. But CNN’s conversations with three-dozen Democratic senators, members of the House, top aides and other prominent leaders detail a cratering of support, with many starting to feel that he can’t be the party’s future and shouldn’t be their present. “If he doesn’t lose it between now and then, he won’t be leader in two years,” said another Democratic senator, who added, looking ahead to the next expected Congressional showdown, “he can’t be trusted alone to negotiate the debt limit.” In a video he blasted out to his supporters Friday night, longtime Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders — an independent who caucuses with the Democrats — called the situation “an absolute failure of Democratic leadership.” In a video he blasted out to his own supporters, freshman California Sen. Adam Schiff called it “a bad day for our country – and for the Democratic Party.”