“It’s not as if the timing is fortuuitous for democrats. “
Not really, an Obama nominee can be shelved until the inauguration of the next president. There is a ton of precedent.
It can make a HUGE difference.
Cases will still be heard by the diminished 8 member court.
And anything that ends up in a 4-4 tie dies there with no changes to the lower court ruling.
So on cases where Scalia would have been the fifth vote to overturn a lower court ruling the liberals effectively prvail with 4-4 tie.