I did a search for "shadow cabinet" and got zero results, so I'm sorry if this diary is redundant; it seems an obvious idea.
At this point in the election cycle, Kerry would do well to start appointing members to his "shadow cabinet," along the lines of the UK, where there's always a government "ready to go." It would be a novelty in the US, and Kerry could definitely use some novelty.
The most obvious post is Attorney General John Edwards, which would have several advantages:
A--Keep the press guessing about the veep
B--Turn Edwards' relative lack of gov't experience into a plus, since successful lawyer+one-term Senator=good AG
C--Keep Edwards involved actively in the campaign; he's both literally and figuratively a better face for the Ds than Kerry. And it's easier for JE to be enthusiastic about AG (with real power) than veep (with no real power; even Cheney must technically defer to the Chimperor, if only for show)
D--Have JE out on the stump railing against Ashcroft. Themes like "spying on all Americans" and "enabling polluters" should be easy themes for JE to sink his teeth into
E--Challenge Ashcroft to debate, a win-win for Ds. Should JA accept, JE will demolish him (so could I, and I'm no millionaire lawyer); should he refuse, JE can keep reminding voters of it. In either case, JE could say "This kind of debate is unprecedented, as is Ashcroft's abuse of the law"
I'm sure there are other nominees for State, HHS, etc, as some have been speculating. But I haven't seen any diaries about Kerry actually forming a UK-style shadow cabinet to run against ALL of Bushco, piece by piece. Correct me if I'm wrong.