Perhaps this will help end the GOP's crush on Giuliani?

Mayor Giuliani is cool to the idea of an immediate presidential pardon for I. Lewis Libby Jr., a position that puts him out of step with some conservatives who say President Bush should not wait to grant the convicted former White House aide a legal reprieve.

"The pardon power is a very, very important power that the president has, and it has to be exercised very judiciously and very carefully," Mr. Giuliani told reporters in Washington yesterday. "You certainly shouldn't speculate about it while a criminal case is still ongoing."

He added: "It seems to me you let it go through the process." ...

Forget litmus tests and personal values -- this is about tribal solidarity, dammit!

I know -- according to a CNN poll, only 18% of Americans want Libby pardoned. But if the country splits roughly evenly Democratic/Republican/independent and pretty much all of the 18% who want a Libby pardon are in the 33% or so percent of the country that's Republican, support for a pardon might actually be over 50% in the GOP.

So perhaps this will be a dealbreaker for some people. We'll see.