It looks as if Justice Kennedy will not be retiring from SCOTUS in 2018

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

And now that Democratic Senate prospects are looking up, assuming they flip the chamber, Republicans may have to settle with "Garland or get bent" on any vacancies that arise post-2018. Aside from him, the Democratic base is never going to accept a Dem Senate confirming a Trump pick, and we may just have to stick with the Big Mitch precedent of 2016 - let the next president decide.

Which, to be honest, will only further compromise the judiciary when it's already been politicized to death.  Mitch set a really bad precedent, but unless Gorsuch resigns honorably and Trump has a sudden change of heart and appoints Garland in his place (i.e. what should have happened), the future of the integrity of the Court looks bleak.

Soon there will be a new tradition that the president can only appoint SCOTUS judges in the first two years of his term...

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

And now that Democratic Senate prospects are looking up, assuming they flip the chamber, Republicans may have to settle with "Garland or get bent" on any vacancies that arise post-2018. Aside from him, the Democratic base is never going to accept a Dem Senate confirming a Trump pick, and we may just have to stick with the Big Mitch precedent of 2016 - let the next president decide.

I see no reason the Democrats should be so petty. They can and should honor the GOP's wishes and not approve any Trump nominations until after the 2020 elections.

Well now, let's remember something. Republicans who opposed Garland's confirmation were often saying it was because Americans were already in the process of voting in the elections. Had Scalia passed away a year earlier, I don't think a case would have been made to wait. It was the fact that primaries for Obama's successor were taking place which gave incentive to wait.

Unless it's spring 2020, the Democrats shouldn't block any replacement judges.

Highly doubtful.  Any Obama nominee would have almost certainly been blocked at any time after the 2014 midterms.  Mitch's little heist there will have enduring consequences for at least a generation.  You can bet the farm on that.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

And, had we ended up with the situation where Clinton won and the Republicans held the Senate, Garland would still have been blocked.

McConnell: Senate won't confirm Garland if Clinton wins