Washington ? Governors, campaign advisers and former presidential foes could end up in top Cabinet posts in a John Kerry administration, perhaps joined by a retired general and even a Republican or two.

Political and business insiders would be a good bet as in any presidential administration. And plenty of names from the Clinton administration, four years out of office and some of them itching to return, are being tossed around.

The Kerry campaign is keeping quiet about prospects for Cabinet positions if the Massachusetts senator should win the presidency in November. But that doesn’t mean no one is thinking about it.

Here are some possible contenders for a Kerry Cabinet:

• State. Candidates include Kerry foreign policy advisers such as former U.N. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke and Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee. Others mentioned are former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell of Maine and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., who served as vice chairman of the Sept. 11 Commission.
• Defense. Options include two retired generals supporting Kerry — Wesley Clark and Merrill McPeak — along with Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.; former Sen. Gary Hart, D-Colo.; former Sen. Warren Rudman, R-N.H., and Missouri Rep. Ike Skelton, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.

Kerry has mentioned Republican Sens. John Warner of Virginia and John McCain of Arizona, but McCain has been campaigning for Bush.

• Justice. Jamie Gorelick, an assistant attorney general in the Clinton administration and recently a member of the 9-11 commission, has emerged as one candidate, along with another former Clinton Justice Department official, Deval Patrick.
• Homeland Security. Hart, Rudman and Hamilton could also be considered for this post, along with retiring Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., and former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean, the Republican chairman of the 9-11 commission.
• Treasury. Campaign advisers Roger Altman, who was deputy treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, and Jim Johnson, a former Fannie Mae chairman, appear on this list, as does New Jersey Sen. Jon Corzine and Fannie Mae head Franklin Raines.
• White House staff. Kerry could look to the pool of generals who endorsed him during the campaign when seeking a national security adviser.

A budget chief in Kerry’s White House might be senior economic adviser and former Clinton economic adviser Gene Sperling, Raines or David McKean, chief of staff for Kerry’s Senate office. A number of senior campaign advisers could be in line for White House chief of staff, including Johnson, longtime adviser and Boston operative John Sasso or David Gergen.

• Commerce. Some big-name business leaders have been supporting Kerry’s candidacy, including Gateway co-founder Ted Waitt. Possibilities also include Black Entertainment Television founder Robert Johnson and several former Clinton officials such as Altman and Jim Johnson.
• Health and Human Services. Possibilities include former New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, Rep. Denise Majette, D-Ga., if she loses her Senate race, and Rep. Greg Meeks, D-N.Y., an early Kerry supporter. Former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, a doctor, could be considered. And speaking of doctors: former Kerry presidential rival Howard Dean?
• Education. Kerry called former North Carolina Gov. Jim Hunt “Mr. Education” at a recent campaign stop in Charlotte, and candidates could be plucked from current and former governors’ mansions, including Washington’s Gary Locke, South Carolina’s Jim Hodges and Iowa’s Tom Vilsack.
• Transportation. California Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald and former Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater could be in the running.
• Labor. Kerry has said he wants former House Democratic leader and presidential candidate Richard Gephardt of Missouri in his administration, and the Labor Department would seem a natural fit. On the other hand, Kerry has indicated he would fill this post with a labor leader, and those possibilities include Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, and Massachusetts Rep. Stephen Lynch, a Democrat who led a local ironworkers union chapter before being elected to Congress.
• Agriculture. Vilsack, who was on Kerry’s short list of vice presidential picks, has strong experience in farm issues. Others who could be considered include Reps. Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa, and Ron Kind, D-Wis.
• Interior. Mark Gearan, who held several posts in the Clinton administration including Peace Corps director, and Tim Wirth, once Colorado representative and senator, could be picked.
• Environmental Protection Agency. Massachusetts environmental official John DeVillars, who held a spot in the EPA under Clinton, and former Connecticut Sen. Lowell Weicker, a Republican, may be considered.
• Veterans Affairs. Kerry might ask former Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga., a close friend and fellow Vietnam veteran, to go back to the post he held under President Carter.
• Energy. Two Western Democratic senators could be candidates, Maria Cantwell of Washington and Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, along with Bill Richardson of New Mexico, Clinton’s former energy secretary.
• CIA/NID. Hart or Hamilton, the 9-11 commission vice-chairman, might be in a good position to take the top intelligence spot.