BY MASSACHUSETTS political standards, Martha Coakley is a little out there.
The attorney general is saying that she is thinking about a run for the US Senate, should a seat open up. The seat she said she has thought about belongs to Senator John Kerry, who just won reelection to his fifth term. Last fall, when Kerry was under consideration for secretary of state, Coakley and other elected officials, including US Representatives Michael Capuano and Stephen Lynch, expressed an interest in Kerry's job. Kerry isn't going anywhere and Coakley is still expressing interest.
But the Senate seat that everyone is really thinking about - even though they don't want to admit it - belongs to Edward M. Kennedy, who is battling incurable brain cancer. Kennedy has done remarkably well in fighting the disease. His cancer is in remission and he will be returning to the Senate after the Memorial Day recess, Senate majority leader Harry Reid recently told reporters.
Official joy over Kennedy's success in fighting his disease doesn't stop the quiet, behind-the-scenes strategizing about a future run for his seat. In Coakley's case, she needs to take the strategizing a step further.
Rivals like Capuano and Lynch can automatically apply their campaign war chests to a Senate primary fight. Coakley cannot use state campaign funds. She needs to raise money specifically for a federal race. That's why she opened a federal bank account, which is currently inactive.
Coakley is hoping for a Democratic primary where she is the only woman up against a field of men. That is an ideal situation for the Bay State's only female statewide officeholder. Democratic women represent a strong fundraising network in Massachusetts. Lining them up early, along with national women's groups, helps Coakley.
But will she be the only woman in a Senate primary race? Or will Kennedy anoint his wife, Victoria, to succeed him? That possibility remains a quiet part of Bay State political buzz, no matter how much the Kennedys try to squelch it.
An excerpt from Edward Klein's new book in this month's Vanity Fair stirred up talk about Victoria Kennedy's alleged political ambition. Klein contends that Kennedy's wife is feuding with Kennedy's nephew Joseph P. Kennedy II over the seat. Joe Kennedy publicly denied the feud and any interest in his uncle's seat. Friends of Vicki said she is not interested in it.
But Caroline Kennedy's attempt to become the US senator from New York fueled speculation that Victoria Kennedy really is focused on Massachusetts. Caroline withdrew her name from consideration to fill Hillary Clinton's vacant US Senate seat after a series of awkward public appearances and an unenthusiastic response from New York Governor David Paterson.
JFK's daughter has the greatest claim to Camelot's legacy and that legacy is strongest in Massachusetts. She is a dignified presence at John F. Kennedy Library events. She inherited her mother's Martha's Vineyard estate. A candidacy launched from Massachusetts, where her uncle dominates the political landscape and her father's legacy still resonates with older voters, makes political sense. But New York - where she lives - is where her uncle steered her and where her efforts met with humiliating results.
If Caroline is out of Massachusetts politics, will Vicki stay out? For a year now, Coakley has walked a very sensitive political line - around the Kennedys.
Kennedy famously endorsed Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic primary, enraging a bloc of female Clinton backers in Massachusetts. By coincidence, on the very day Kennedy's brain cancer became public, Coakley endorsed Clinton for the presidency. Of course, Coakley had no advance warning about Kennedy's medical diagnosis, but it looked like she was positioning herself. She alienated some Obama women who supported her as a super-delegate because she claimed to be neutral and alienated some Clinton women with her very late support of their candidate.
At the convention in Denver, Coakley voted for Clinton. Obama supporters saw her decision to stick with Clinton as an effort to stay in the good graces of Clinton's female supporters. The AG needs them for a Senate campaign.
Her tightrope walk continues.
Joan Vennochi can be reached at vennochi@globe.com. 
