Well, this could be fun:

The shadow campaign for US Senator John F. Kerry's seat saw light yesterday, with US Representative Barney Frank blanketing the airwaves of Eastern Massachusetts with television ads aimed at boosting his profile for the race that would occur if Kerry wins the White House.

Frank, a Democrat whose district spreads from Newton to Fall River, has purchased $350,000 of air time, mostly on Boston television stations. He faces a challenge for his House seat from a little-known independent candidate whose campaign adviser all but concedes he can't win.

In an interview yesterday, Frank acknowledged that the advertising blitz, the first he has launched since a reelection battle in 1982, is designed in part to lay the groundwork for a potential race for the US Senate seat that Kerry would vacate.

"The best way to win any campaign is before the campaign begins," Frank said....

--Boston Globe

There are other good Democratic candidates -- Congreessmen Ed Markey and Marty Meehan, to name two. (In fact, there might be too many Democratic candidates, a problem that's long plagued the Democratic Party in Massachusetts, which, in statewide races, often can't manage to elect the winners of bruising primary contests.)

But just imagine: John Kerry beats God's Messenger on Earth, George W. Bush. Then shortly afterward, a special election is held, and the winner is Barney Frank. Now Saint George is out of a job and the Bay State's Senate delegation is Ted Kennedy and a gay man. There are parts of the country where people would just be freaking. That would be fun.