"Were you able to remove the blank without removing the small panel?"
Yes.
"How hard is it to get it out?"
Not hard, you push on the front of the switch blank and it pops out the back.
"I did order two replacement switches from Nissan. They are expensive"
How much ? Do they come with the snap in wire connector? Can you get NISSAN on-off switches that illuminate when on?
"I was planning to run them off the hot wire near the driver and run an inline fuse just in case."
I did the same thing, except I used the passenger side as I didn't want to accidentally leave it on and drain the battery. Of course with the strobes, you would have a pretty good indication that something was still on!
"The one that is going in the lower left kick panel slot is the one I have to work out a hot wire for. I might run a longer wire to the same place as the other one and feed it that way."
That might be a pain in the neck.
"Not sure what else is always hot on the lower left yet."
I couldn't find anything lower left that I could get to without butchering existing wiring. If you aren't concerned about leaving something on and draining the battery, and it is only .75 amps, you could run a long, small diameter (see
http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm for a nice little voltage drop calculator) insulated wire with inline fuse through the hood release cable grommet and across to the battery (which has a nice terminal for hooking up accessory items). A few small nylon cable ties under the hood and you are in business.