If the Plame leak investigation results in any indictments or even in any serious criticism of the administration (and how can it not?), then we all know what the Republican strategy will be: blame the messenger. Denounce Patrick Fitzgerald as a partisan hack. Do to Fitzgerald what Delay is lamely trying to do to Ronnie Earle. No doubt, the RNC has got an oppo research team working to dig up dirt on Fitzgerald now.
We need to be prepared with counter-arguments, before the investigation winds up. Number one: if Fitzgerald is such a partisan Democrat, why didn't he announce something before the election last fall? After all, he had been working for over a year at that point, and could surely have said a lot to damage Bush.
The only possible response is to say that Fitzgerald hadn't finished his investigation yet. But that would just mean that he did his job as he is supposed to, and that is exactly what Republicans can't say if they are charging him with being partisan. We might as well charge him with being pro-Republican (why didn't he give the country a heads-up about what was coming, when it could have made a difference?)