A welcome dilemma for newly reelected Kerry

JOHN KERRY is in a public relations pickle.

It's bad form to seem hungry for a Cabinet post, particularly if you've just run for reelection professing that there's nothing more in the once-vast realm of your ambition than serving the good and decent people of Massachusetts.

But despite his office's attempt to knock the story down, Kerry is not only eyeing the secretary of state's job, he has emerged as a top contender for Foggy Bottom.

"I think it's serious - and Kerry wants it," says one person close to Barack Obama's campaign. "If you look at the list of possibilities, you've got to see him among the top contenders."

Now, Kerry is easy to make sport of because he tends to wear his ambition on his sleeve. And his collar. And his lapel. And a half-dozen other places about his person.

But let's be clear: He'd be a terrific choice for the job.

He's hardly the only one who's interested, of course. Another top contender would have to be former UN ambassador Richard Holbrooke, who was making the public rounds in Denver during the Democratic convention. Indeed, in one eye-catching moment at a foreign policy forum, Holbrooke dramatically rebuked an apologist who tried to minimize Russia's invasion of Georgia.

Speaking to Holbrooke afterward, I noted that Joe Biden's selection as Obama's ticketmate removed one of the former ambassador's major rivals for secretary of state. To hear Holbrooke's reaction, one might have thought he had no interest in a job he's coveted for years. Nevertheless, the tour d' horizon he authored in a recent edition of Foreign Affairs magazine was viewed by insiders as an audition for the position.

Susan Rice, a former assistant secretary of state under Bill Clinton, is also sometimes mentioned, as is Washington mega-lawyer and former Ted Kennedy aide Greg Craig, though he's seen as a better fit for White House counsel.

But no one brings more to the table than Kerry would.

His years of service on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has given him deep expertise in international issues and a long relationship with pivotal Middle Eastern leaders. (With Senator Chris Dodd's decision to stay at the helm of the banking committee, Kerry will assume the chairmanship of Foreign Relations next year should he remain in the Senate.)

Meanwhile, because of his own presidential campaign, Kerry is an internationally known figure.

Put it together, and his appointment as secretary of state would send just the signal that Obama wants to convey about the importance he puts on improving US relations in the world.

When Joe Biden won Obama's VP nod, some tea-leaf readers viewed that as a positive for Kerry, thinking it removed a potential rival for the nation's top diplomatic job. But here's an interesting question: Would Biden want Kerry at state?

The two senators are genuine friends. Still, if Biden wants to be the new administration's foreign policy czar, it wouldn't necessarily be in his interest to have Kerry - a high-profile figure with his own power base and political relationships - in the post. However, The New Yorker recently quoted a Biden spokesman as saying Biden has told Obama he doesn't want to be a shadow secretary of state.

Either way, Kerry has credit in the bank with the president-elect. His choice of Obama as keynote speaker at the 2004 Democratic convention catapulted the little-known US Senate candidate from Illinois into the national limelight. An early endorser of Obama, Kerry was also a tough and able campaign surrogate, so much so that he was the campaign's choice to speak for the nominee on the last episode of "Meet the Press" before the election.

With his own dream of being president over, expect Kerry to jump if he gets offered the secretary of state post.

And if he does, here's how he could make up for his campaign dissembling: He could reach into his political funds and donate to the state - or even to charity - the couple of million it costs to run a special election.

That would make it a win-win for everyone.

Scot Lehigh's e-mail address is lehigh@globe.com.