US Edition 
John Kerry set to become next US Secretary of State
John Kerry has emerged as the clear favourite to become the next US Secretary of State, even as Democrats raged over the successful Republican effort to drive Susan Rice, the UN Ambassador, out of contention.
Miss Rice's decision to withdraw from consideration after weeks of attacks over her role in the US response to the Benghazi consulate killings leaves the Massachusetts senator with no real competition for the job of America's top diplomat.
Democrats said they expected Mr Kerry would easily be confirmed as Hillary Clinton's replacement at the State Department, although leading members of the party struck out at the "outrageous" onslaught against Miss Rice.
Mr Kerry, 69, has made no secret of his desire to take charge of the State Department and a growing consensus in Washington suggested that he was likely to be appointed by President Barack Obama within weeks.
"There have been no other names that have been circulated so I think it's fair to say that John Kerry is the clear favourite," PJ Crowley, Mrs Clinton's former spokesman, told the Daily Telegraph. "I would be very surprised if it wasn't him".
Mr Kerry had hoped to be appointed to the post after Mr Obama's first election victory in 2008 but in the interim four years has burnished his credentials by chairing the Senate's powerful foreign affairs committee. The Vietnam veteran and 2004 presidential contender further endeared himself to the White House by playing the role of Mitt Romney in Mr Obama's debate rehearsals, and savaging the Republicans on foreign policy during the 2012 campaign.
Republicans have indicated that they would support his appointment and John McCain, the senator who led the attacks on Miss Rice, has taken to jokingly referring to him as "Mr Secretary".
Mr Obama was due to meet Miss Rice privately at the White House on Friday in a show of support after weeks of attacks from Republicans who accused her of deliberately misleading the public by claiming the Benghazi attack was the result of a spontaneous protest.
"The personal attacks against Ambassador Rice by certain Republican senators have been outrageous and utterly unmoored from facts and reality," said Sen Harry Reid, the Democrat leader in the Senate.