John Kerry expected to get top foreign affairs panel post

By GottaLaff

Chairman Kerry:

More than three decades after he first appeared before the panel as a 27-year-old Vietnam veteran-turned-antiwar protester, Senator John F. Kerry is widely expected to be named the new chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, a position that will give him enormous influence over international relations.

The pending announcement by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, which congressional aides said could come as early as today, would elevate Kerry to the top of the foreign policy establishment and give him a major role in shaping President-elect Barack Obama's foreign policy priorities. [...]

He will replace the outgoing chairman, Vice President-elect Joe Biden.

Kerry is still considered by some observers to be on Obama's short list for Secretary of State, but many believe Senator Hillary Clinton and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who both met with Obama last week about the post, are more likely candidates to become the nation's top diplomat.