God Help Us: Lerch as Secretary of State

Let the nightmares begin.

The airplane came to a stop, the door opened and out popped Tony Blair. At the bottom of the stairs to greet the former British prime minister on Saturday was Sen. John Kerry, looking every part the diplomat.

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.

One one hand, it would be helpful if the presumptive nominee gave the American people some idea what kind of freakshow his cabinet would like like.

On the other hand, he may not want to show his hand too early since it would only increase his chances of losing in a crushing landslide.

Putting a boob like Kerry in at State is sure to help such chances.