John Kerry and the ghost of Scott Brown

It's possible, but fears of a GOP comeback in Massachusetts shouldn't affect Obama's choice for Secretary of State

BY STEVE KORNACKI

Apparently, Barack Obama is serious about rewarding John Kerry with a top Cabinet post in his second administration. The Massachusetts senator, who delivered a rousing convention speech in Charlotte and played Mitt Romney in the president’s debate prep sessions, is reportedly under consideration to run either the Defense or State Departments.

Right now, most of the speculation is focused on the Pentagon, with Obama preferring to place his longtime friend Susan Rice at State. But Republican attacks on Rice over the Benghazi episode threaten to produce a bloody confirmation battle if Obama taps her. Democrats will have 55 votes (counting Angus King and Bernie Sanders) in the Senate come January, so in theory Obama would have the numbers to win that battle. But some of those Democrats – like, for instance, West Virginia’s Joe Manchin – could face home state pressure to defect if it became a clearly partisan fight.

Maybe Obama, emboldened by his victory last week, will embrace a confrontation with the GOP over Rice. But if he’s dissuaded, then Kerry could be his fallback option. And if not State, then Kerry is being floated as a potential replacement for Leon Panetta at the Defense Department.

Kerry, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, would obviously prefer the more prestigious State post. For the first two decades of his Senate career, he sought to position himself for the presidency, but since his loss to George W. Bush in 2004 he’s carved out a role as his party’s point man in the Senate on international affairs – and has made little secret of his hopes for a career-capping run as Secretary of State in a Democratic administration. He’ll turn 69 next month, so this is probably his last, best hope, and there’s reason to believe he’d accept a Defense appointment as a consolation prize, if it comes to it.

The stumbling block is this: If Kerry takes an administration post, it will open his Senate seat and trigger a special election sometime in 2013. And that, Democrats fear, could open the door for Scott Brown, who was defeated by Elizabeth Warren last week, to make a comeback.

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