You're really expecting a landslide, aren't you? Democrats are doing the exact same thing this time they did last time, and they're expecting the virus to save them. It might not happen...
It wouldn't take anything close to a landslide for the senate to flip.
My point is: if the Democrats win the senate and the presidency, it doesn't really matter if Trump fills this vacancy. There is zero doubt they will stack the court when in power if he does.
There is plenty of doubt about whether a Democratic majority in the Senate would add seats to the Supreme Court. It would only take a couple of holdouts to stop any bill that does this, and a lot of Senators are really reluctant to do anything that might be construed as rocking the boat.
I absolutely think that Democrats should expand the court, but (along with substantially reforming the filibuster) I don't have great confidence in Senate Democrats to actually do it if the opportunity presents itself.
I hope you're right. Stacking the court with a certain sort of justice would convince a lot of people to give up on this polity. The sooner this threat to humanity can be broken up in smaller parts, the better.
