John Kerry: Is he angling for secretary of state?

Four years after a failed presidential bid and amid a race for a fifth Senate term this fall, Kerry's moves have prompted some questions:

_Is the Massachusetts Democrat positioning himself to be secretary of state in a potential Barack Obama administration?

_Could a Kerry appointment create not one but two Senate openings in Massachusetts, assuming Sen. Edward Kennedy cannot complete his term after being diagnosed last week with brain cancer?

Kerry aides insist he's not angling for the job and point to his long involvement in foreign affairs. It started with his famous testimony as a 27-year-old veteran questioning the Vietnam War before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It continues today, at age 64, as the No. 3 Democrat on the same panel.

But envisioning him in the post would hardly be a stretch given Obama's chances at securing the Democratic nomination, a general election shaping up as a "change" campaign and Kerry's relationship with the Illinois senator.

I'm truly afraid of losing too many senate seats. I think most of our dem. senators should stay put.