I don't understand how this is likely to benefit the far right.  Obama is not likely to nominate a strong liberal under these conditions, in fact he might well nominate a more conservative person than Hillary Clinton would.    Chances are the Ds will have 47-49 Senate seats after the election and can essentially block a right-wing nominee anyway.  Does Mitch McConnell really know who Donald Trump would nominate?  So the Senate Rs end up looking like swine for nothing. Maybe Obama will nominate Sen. Lisa Murkowski and let Mitch McConnell nibble that rat sandwich for a while.