Reed for SecDef talk flares anew

I've heard the same chatter via the State House as Pat -- that Jack Reed may well be ticketed for a future appointment as President Obama's secretary of defense.

Reed, as we know, has steadily insisted that he wants to remain in the Senate. Yet being asked by the president to take on SecDef would have to count for a lot, and Reed -- as seen by his inclusion in a NYTM photo spread on Obama's people -- is seen as being quite close to the president.

I spoke late this past week with state Representative Chris Fierro, who has legislation seeking to filll US Senate vacancies through a vote, rather than the current mode of gubernatorial appointment. Fierro told me he did not anticipate an imminent floor vote on his bill.

Meanwhile, as Pat notes, if Reed does get the Cabinet role, it would break something of a logjam in the state's congressional posts, creating a definite scramble to move up.