My first pick for Secretary of State was John Kerry, but I began to root for Susan Rice after I saw how she was mistreated. Now that she has withdrawn her name from consideration (in admirable fashion), it looks like the pick will be John Kerry after all. The fact that David Ignatius endorses Kerry is somewhat disquieting, but I still think he is the right man for the job at this period in time.
Other than Bill Clinton, there isn’t anyone who could replace Hillary Clinton’s stature. Kerry was the Democratic nominee in 2004 and came within a whisker of winning the presidency. He’s spent three decades on the Foreign Relations Committee, which oversees the State Department. He’s been the chairman of the committee for Obama’s whole first term in office.
Kerry has also earned the position. By tapping Barack Obama as the keynote speaker at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, he made Obama’s presidency possible. He endorsed Obama over Clinton fairly early, when it could easily have backfired on him. He took his disappointment in losing out to Hillary for Sec. of State with grace and went to work for the president in the Senate. And then he helped Obama prep for the debates by playing the role of Mitt Romney.
The two men may not be personally close, but there is no question that Kerry has done everything he could to put Obama in the White House and to help him succeed once there. If Kerry were to be passed over in these circumstances, it would need some explanation.
And I am not worried about Scott Brown winning his Senate seat. That is not going to happen. Pretty soon, Elizabeth Warren will be the senior senator from Massachusetts. How weird is that?
