He tells colleagues to consider the golden rule.  In what way does the golden rule apply here?  Is it in being nice to Elena Kagan or is it in doing unto the voters.  While confirmation isn’t directly a topic of Preserving Democracy, the issue of the power of the judiciary is.

Senators should carefully consider the candidate, and not just qualifications, but also judicial philosophy.  That’s “doing unto the voters.”

As Elgin suggests in chapter 4:

The only solution is to insist that judges make rulings based strictly on the law. This will be difficult because, as judges have started to make legislative decisions, they have entered the political process and have gained political backing and support from those who like their rulings. Many find it much easier to have courts impose the policies they like, rather than to have to deal with the ambiguities of the democratic process. So one of the first steps will be to have a majority realize what exactly is at stake and the antidemocratic nature of the court’s rulings.

This suggests care in the selection of judges.