Posted on 10/06/2012 1:31:47 PM PDT by presidio9
If Washington, DC, is a city of poorly guarded secrets, perhaps the least well guarded is Senator John Kerry’s desire to be secretary of state. Hillary Clinton has made it clear that she will not return for a second term in that role, and if President Obama is reelected, Kerry would certainly be a favorite for the post. From his emergency diplomatic relations with Afghanistan to his work chairing the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Kerry has been one of Obama’s go-to guys for international affairs. Considering that our senior senator was among the first high-profile politicians to support Obama’s presidential bid, you could even say that the president owes him one.
So what, short of a Mitt Romney victory this November, could thwart Kerry’s ambitions? An Elizabeth Warren victory.
With control of the Senate so tightly contested between the two parties, Warren’s race with Senator Scott Brown could well decide whether the D’s or the R’s hold the majority. So suppose Warren beats Brown in a tight vote. Also suppose that Obama wins reelection, and Kerry is given the keys to the State Department.
That would mean Massachusetts would need a new senator, of course, so just like when Ted Kennedy passed away, Governor Deval Patrick would appoint a temporary one immediately, then hold a special election in 145 to 160 days. It’s not hard to imagine Brown running for Kerry’s seat. It is hard to imagine who’d run against him on the Democratic ticket, especially since the Dems will soon need a gubernatorial candidate as well.
“Where are the Democrats going to find a credible candidate for governor and a credible candidate for Senate if Kerry is successful?” wonders Philip Johnston, a former Massachusetts Democratic Party chairman. With Patrick’s term up in two years, Johnston points out, candidates like the rejuvenated Attorney General Martha Coakley or state Treasurer Steve Grossman might choose to hold off on a Senate bid and instead run for governor (besides, we’ve already seen how Coakley versus Brown plays out).
You could trot out all the names we’ve already heard: City Year cofounder Alan Khazei, Newton Mayor Setti Warren, Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca, our various representatives in the House, but none of them inspires much confidence against a candidate as tough as Brown. “I think there is a bench issue right now for the Democrats,” Johnston says.
It could well be that if Obama wins again and taps Kerry for his cabinet, he’d be handing a crucial Senate seat back to the GOP. That doesn’t seem like something the president would want to do. So while we’d like to think we know who Kerry will be voting for in this November’s Senate race, one of his colleagues might just want to check his ballot.
Says all you need to know about this administration right freaking there.
I wouldn’t go for Kerry unless it was for Heinze catch-up !
Yeah, it does reflect on “President [in his own mind]” John Kerry.
Also shows the low level of brain power that Zero has.
But, we were assured in ‘08 that he was a great orator and well spoken yadda yadda blah blah blah..
..but unplug his telepwomper and he becomes a babbling blithering imbecile.
Also speaks to the mythology the Dems have built around their losses in 2000 and 2004 and their candidates therein.
They honestly believe that Kerry was just so wonderful, that the election was “stolen by Diebold” from him.
That’s why he’s prepping their people in this election.
What can possibly go wrong?
*snicker*
Not that this article’s conclusions aren’t plausible, but the scuttlebutt from Howie Carr last week is that Scott Brown and John Kerry (despite political differences) have a good personal relationship where behind-the-scenes favors have been done in the past for both sides.
Howie thinks that’s the main reason why you won’t see Kerry campaigning for Warren.
Was J. Effin’ Kerry ever in Vietnam?
I think Obummer must have found the jar of Teresa Heinz Kerry’s gin-soaked raisins before the debate.
John Kerry has a lot of foreign policy experience. He was in Vietnam, don’t you know? And he met secretly with the North Vietnamese in Paris to negotiate our surrender.
What does the Mass Constitution say? In New York the sitting governor could just appoint someone for the remainder of Kerry’s term. That’s how we got the former HUDD huckster Kristen Gillibrand.
Stop it with your Republican smears. Kerry met with both sides... The North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong.
Having Kerry prep Odumbo for the domestic policy debate worked so well, I hear they’re going to get Jane Fonda to brief him before the foreign policy segment.
Kerry "had a plan" since 2004. No one still knows what it is.
If the governor appointed Caroline Kennedy temporarily as Senator if for no other reason than to raise her profile and she then ran in the special election, would she have a prayer against Scott Brown?
Can the temporary Senator run, legally, ethically? Sorry, scratch ethically these are Mass Democrats, ethics are no hurtle.
Marry richer and richer women.
I would think it would be too late for Caroline Kennedy to establish Massachusettes residency. She was born in NYC, moved back there with her mom a week after her father was assassinated, and has pretty much lived here her entire life.
My bad: Jackie kept the kids in Georgetown for a while after dad died, but officially moved to NYC in the spring after their townhouse became a popular tourist destination.
Hey, a POS for SOS. Sounds great.
The more possible scenario is Brown beats Warren bad, gets six years. Romney beats Obama. Kerry resigns before the people string him up. His likability ratio has to be under 30 percent. A Republican, like Sean Bielat, becomes governor and another Republican wins “Kerry’s” seat.
The frankenstien monster’s bolts are loose in his neck, where’s your boat docked lately?
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