Just a commute... no Pardon. Bush has no guts.
RF, this allows him to continue his appeal, which will allow him to clear his name if he is successful. A number of people have speculated that this is something he would want and that may well be.
A pardon at this time would be tantamount to acknowledging that Scooter was guilty, then he's being "pardoned" or "forgiven" for his crime.
A commutation of sentence allows the appeal process to go forward all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary. Then, if he is found guilty, whoever is the president at that time can pardon him. God help Scooter (and all of us) if it's The She-Beast.