WASHINGTON — With UN Ambassador Susan Rice suddenly withdrawing from consideration for US 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 and elevation of Kerry shook up Washington on Thursday. 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. The possible selection of Kerry and Hagel would put two decorated Vietnam War veterans — one Navy, the other Army — at State and the Pentagon. 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. 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 US Consulate in 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 blistering 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 Qaeda affiliates. — AP
