I see this as very bad while a Democrat is still POTUS, because it would be far better for the nation that a SCOTUS seat remain empty than that Republican liberals join with Democrats to put yet another liberal in the SCOTUS.
You just can’t trust people like John McCain, Lindsay Graham, Mitch McConnell, et al.
Importantly, there is *zero* reason to do this now, because the senate makes its own rules every *two* years.
So, in effect, what they are asking for is to make it *easier* for Obama to name a replacement justice.
To hell with that.
Why is it ABSOLUTELY imperative that a vacant Supreme Court seat be filled, should one become vacant? If the situation gets that bad, the Current Occupant could make a recess appointment, which expires with his own departure from office.
We would have been much better served had some filibuster against both Sotomayer and Kagan been exercised, and driven their names from contention. But of course, the Republicans were totally emasculated and powerless at the time. Also, there would have been no viable alternatives that would uphold the word and spirit of the Constitution that would have been submitted.