Kerry next in line for top state position

With US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton traveling halfway around the world, there has been speculation among Democrats at their party's national convention about who might succeed her if President Barack Obama is re-elected in November.

A name generating lots of buzz is John Kerry, the former senator from Massachusetts who lost in his 2004 presidential bid against president George W. Bush. As chairman of the US Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, Kerry is seen as the leading candidate to become the top diplomat in a second Obama term.

Clinton, who has drawn accolades even from Republicans for her leadership at the State Department, has said she plans to retire from politics after Obama's current term ends in January. Political observers and pundits have suggested that Clinton, who waged a sometimes-bitter primary campaign against Obama for the Democrats' 2008 nomination, might again run for president in 2016.