Kerry rises as top pick for US secretary of state post <nbsp/><nbsp/>

WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON With U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice suddenly withdrawing from consideration for U.S. secretary of state to avoid a contentious confirmation fight with emboldened Republicans, Democratic Sen. John Kerry has vaulted to the head of President Barack Obama's short list of candidates.

The exit of Rice on Thursday and possible elevation of Kerry -- who unsuccessfully sought the presidency in 2004 and has longed for the job of top diplomat -- has shaken up Washington.

It was coupled with the potential for even bolder second-term changes in Obama's national security team next month. Chuck Hagel, a former Republican senator, emerged as the front-runner to serve as defense secretary.

Official word on replacements for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is expected to step down soon, and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in an Obama Cabinet remake could come as early as next week.

Obama was scheduled to meet with Rice privately on Friday. The White House said Rice would remain U.N. ambassador.

She could become national security adviser should Tom Donilon move on to another position. The security adviser position would not require Senate confirmation.

Democrats blamed politics for Rice's withdrawal. They insinuated that Republicans who failed to get any traction in using the deadly September attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, to derail Obama's re-election bid instead took her down.

"Their behavior was a disgrace to the Senate's tradition of bipartisan cooperation on national security issues and beneath the stature of senators with otherwise distinguished records on national security," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said in a statement.

Rice had been widely attacked for a series of interviews five days after the Libya attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Relying on intelligence community talking points, she attributed the cause to widespread protests throughout the Middle East over an anti-Muslim video rather than a terrorist attack by al-Qaida affiliates.

Obama had been defiant in defending Rice. House Democratic women cast the attacks as sexist and racist -- Rice is African-American.

In a letter to Obama, Rice said that "if nominated, I am now convinced that the confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive and costly -- to you and to our most pressing national and international priorities. That trade-off is simply not worth it to our country."

Obama bemoaned the relentless Republican criticism in accepting Rice's decision to step aside.

"While I deeply regret the unfair and misleading attacks on Susan Rice in recent weeks, her decision demonstrates the strength of her character," the president said.

Kerry, a senator for nearly three decades and the current Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, has won praise from his Senate colleagues and should be confirmed easily, if nominated.

He has been Obama's envoy to hot spots such as Afghanistan and Pakistan, the administration's point man in 2010 on a nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia and a stand-in for Republican Mitt Romney during Obama's debate preparation this year.

Kerry's move to secretary of state would create a potential problem for Democrats by opening a Senate seat -- one that recently defeated Republican Sen. Scott Brown is eyeing.

Hagel was a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee during his years in the Senate. He and Obama became close while they served in the Senate and traveled overseas together.

Hagel has irked some in the Republican Party with his complaints that the party has moved too far to the right and for his endorsements of Democrats.

"He's a combat vet who was wounded twice and understands that the decisions we make here are carried out by our young men and women" in the military, said Sen. Jack Reed, a member of the Armed Services Committee.

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