WASHINGTON -- Recently defeated Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) wasn't willing to announce any plans to seek another office Tuesday, but he was willing to recommend his senior Democratic colleague, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), for an Obama administration position that would open up a seat in the Bay State.
Asked if he was interested in running for Senate or governor of Massachusetts should either position open up, Brown, who lost reelection last week to Elizabeth Warren, declined to say yes or no.
"There's no vacancy that I'm aware of, and my biggest job right now is to make sure there's a smooth transition from my office to the senator-elect's office," Brown told reporters in a Capitol Hill press conference.
But he was willing to hail Kerry as a potential replacement for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Kerry has been discussed has a top contender for that job, and for secretary of defense.
"I've told him personally that I thought he'd make an excellent secretary of state," Brown said.
If Kerry left the Senate, Brown would have a chance to run in a special election, much the way he did when he won in early 2010. There could also be a statewide office available if Gov. Deval Patrick -- a strong supporter and friend of President Obama -- took some sort of job in the administration.
"There is not an opening right now for governor. Nor is there an opening for senator, but there is an opening for a dad and husband, and that's the role that I want to play," he said.
Brown didn't sound like he was entirely writing off politics, though, saying he hopes Warren delivers on her promise to be bipartisan, and that he hopes the Republicans open their arms more to a wider variety of people.
"I'm hopeful ... when I heard Sen.-elect Warren say that she plans to be working in a bipartisan manner," Brown said, adding a rebuke for his own party, as well.
"We need to be a larger-tent party. I'm a pro-choice, moderate Republican. There's a vanishing breed here," Brown said. "I'm hopeful that we'll be a more tolerant, open-minded party. I plan to continue to play a role of some sort. I don't know what yet."
Michael McAuliff covers Congress and politics for The Huffington Post. Talk to him on Facebook.