I would hope the press would ask either McClellan or the President whether Bush intends on pardoning Libby. The sooner the question is asked the better. Asking the questions will get Bush on the record and, depending on the answer, may put pressure on Libby, and possibly others, to flip. And, most importantly, no matter what the answer, this will help Fitzgerald, and, indirectly, Democrats. I'll explain:
If the question is asked the answers are either: (1) we don't comment; (2) we will not pardon him; or (3)we may pardon. Obviously, they won't respond that they may pardon. So, the response will be either "no comment" or "no pardon". If the answer is "no pardon", this is bad news for Mr. Libby, and possibly others, and the chances of him flipping increase dramatically. The case is a strong one and a "I was so busy defense" isn't going to fly". He testified and that is what is going to kill him.
On the other hand, if the response is "no comment", which I would presume is the most likely response, I don't think it is unreasonable to equate that to saying that Bush will pardon him. What an opportunity for Democrats!
I would hope to hear a Democratic talking point something like: "The Republican President of the United States said that he wanted to get to the bottom of the Plame leak, but when an indictment was made by his Justice Department he was unwilling to say that there would be no pardons indicted or convicted with respect to the leak. This is just another example of a party that purports to be the party of security putting politics over National Security."
Let's just pray we take political advantage of what has been a National Security fiasco by a bunch of right wing nuts who have taken over the Republican Party.