In light of Amb. Rice's withdrawal
Regardless of whether Amb. Rice would have been a good choice for Sec. of State, many felt that her opposition was primarily motivated by a desire to force Pres. Obama to select Sen. Kerry as his candidate. I'm sure that Sen. Kerry would make an excellent Sec. of State; however, giving into the republicans' manipulation to open an otherwise safe democratic senate seat would be, in my opinion, bad policy for Pres. Obama, bad for progressives (if a republican were to win the special election), and bad for holding the senate in 2014. Appointing a relatively liberal republican senator such as Sen. Collins would be an interesting option. She hasn't indicated whether she intends to run again. In addition, this would open an otherwise safe republican senate seat and would give Congressman Chellie Pingree a good shot at turning the seat blue. Just a thought.