To answer your last question, I'll admit that I assumed (yes, I know: bad) that that is what he would do based on the actions of his predecessors, both Democrat and Republican. It's what they've always done in an attempt to sway the Supreme Court over to their respective ideologies or to at least balance it. It's been this way since I can remember.
If you're right about the president's choice, it would be refreshing, to say the least.
