John Kerry: Secretary of State?

There’s been a lot of talk about Mitt Romney being John McCain’s running mate, but the former governor isn’t the only local politician who might be heading for a high-profile national gig.

The Associated Press (via the Herald’s web site) speculates that Sen. John Kerry might be Secretary of State if Barack Obama becomes president.

It does kind of make sense.

Kerry wrote a Washington Post op-ed column chastising President Bush and John McCain. . . for criticizing Obama after he said that, as president, he would be willing to negotiate with U.S. opponents such as Iran.

The senator invited [former British prime minister Tony] Blair to this island getaway last weekend so they could discuss the Middle East and climate change.

These days, it seems the best way to see into a politician’s soul to know who he’s had stay at his house on a long weekend.

The Obama campaign is playing coy, saying it’s receptive to Kerry’s advances, but that it just wants to be friends with the senator for now.

“Senator Obama appreciates his close friendship with Senator Kerry, his service to this country and his early support for our campaign. It is obviously far too early to even speculate about the makeup of an Obama administration — as we are still in a nomination fight — but with his depth of expertise, especially on issues of foreign policy, Senator Kerry would be on the short list for anyone’s Cabinet,” said spokesman Bill Burton.

Unlike Romney’s flirtation with McCain, this match has some serious potential.