Plan B

I'm not too sure of the characterization, but....

On Thursday, officials at the American Embassy in Islamabad reached out to members of the political party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, according to a senior administration official. The very fact that officials are even talking to backers of Mr. Sharif, who they believe has too many ties to Islamists, suggests how hard it will be to find a partner the United States fully trusts.

Rather than trying to find a new "partner" in Sharif the US might simply be trying to get a feel for the new playing field.

(Also: In all of this coverage, I have seen very little on the Pakistani military. One of the likely resolutions of this is for the military to usher Musharraf off stage to try and restore stability.)