Why would we have to wait 4 years? The election is in 2 months. If Trump wins, he can make his nomination. If not, the will of the people will have spoken.
For what its worth, though, it IS the precedent that the Republicans have set. See, before they pulled that stunt, presidents had a full term to utilize the responsibilities of the position. They are the reason that a president gets kneecapped at 3.5 years now....you know, just in case.
They won't adhere to thier precedent, of course, but the reality is that they should and they damned well know it.
Of course, they should stick to the standard that they swore up and down was the standard, but now Trump supporters, suddenly smacked in the face by wisdom about the political world, will tell you that we were naive ever to believe that that was the actual standard, and that the true standard has always been, "If you can do anything to win, you should do it."
Which is really just fine by me, because when Biden and the Democratic Senate take over, we will use precisely that standard when we nuke the legislative filibuster, expand the Supreme Court, and reverse decades of conservative decisions.
In short, conservatives, buy your guns now.
And when they squeal about tyranny and how Democrats have truly lowered the bar and are morally despicable and so on and so forth, throwing themselves down the stairs, walking back up the stairs, and throwing themselves down the stairs again, we can say, "Pigeons. Roost," and leave them the rest of their lives to solve that riddle.
We're lucky that they're short-sighted and emotional. They are not a strategic people.
