Just a thought. If the Democrats take back the Senate in early January, 2017, Obama still has a couple weeks left in his term. Could they ram through a nominee in that case? Would they?
I think they could do that, yes.
Obama is president until January 20. The new Senate takes office on January 3. If Dems. Control the Senate after the 2016 election, and if a Republican wins the 2016 election, this would be their parting shot.
If a Democrat is elected president then they would not bother with that.
They could nominate someone, but since it takes two thirds of the Senate to confirm, it might go nowhere. Hopefully the Dems will not get a majority and certainly not two thirds.