Two thoughts:
1. First, on Scalia. I'm not an expert on the Supreme Court or on Scalia. What little I know, however, gives me the impression that he was a very sharp mind, who often delivered very well-thought-out, well-articulated opinions, even if I personally disagreed. This makes my other assessment of him seem somewhat counterintuitive, as he, while highly intelligent, also seemed to lack common sense in some of his rulings. Two examples that strike me are the rulings on Citizens United and the guy who claimed his rights had been violated since the young female victim didn't actually appear in court before him (can't remember the case name). In the first case, Scalia's notion of free speech defied common sense (he seems to associate more free speech with more money and therefore what our Founders intended, ignoring the fact that this means less free speech for those without money), while in the second, he reads the laws too "by the book," thinking video evidence of the girl testifying not as sufficient as an in-court testimony, completely ignoring the fact that those laws were most likely drafted before we even had videos or audio recordings. So, my assessment of Scalia is a guy who was a sharp mind, but perhaps too "by the book." I suppose "by the book" is what we want out of our judges, but, as I cited above, being too "by the book" can actually be a bit too much of a restraint on common sense.
2. I hope upon all hopes that Obama nominates a moderate judge. I know the judge will most likely be left-leaning, even if a moderate, but that's fine. But as long as the judge is primarily a moderate, it will suffice. If he elects a judge that is too far left, then I hope it gets struck down. This being said, if Republicans are seriously going to hold up this nomination for a year and keep the Supreme Court handcuffed for a year, then every bit of criticism that comes their way for such a decision will be warranted.