Well I for one would hope any politician would forsake "their" political life for that of a real life if they felt that was intellectually the correct course of action.
But don't mince my words here though - I did not say I believe Tookie shouldn't be executed.
Here's one that probably should walk free, Cory Maye. Nobody seems to be taking up his case. Cops broke into his place on a warrant for another place.
---Let's summarize: Cops mistakenly break down the door of a sleeping man, late at night, as part of drug raid. Turns out, the man wasn't named in the warrant, and wasn't a suspect. The man, frigthened for himself and his 18-month old daughter, fires at an intruder who jumps into his bedroom after the door's been kicked in. Turns out that the man, who is black, has killed the white son of the town's police chief. He's later convicted and sentenced to death by a white jury. The man has no criminal record, and police rather tellingly changed their story about drugs (rather, traces of drugs) in his possession at the time of the raid.---
http://www.theagitator.com/archives/025962.php
Taking any life is not an intellectual exercise. It is a moral one. The sum of Tookie's life makes the decision an easier one though