The Democrats convene in Boston later this week. Everyone knows the identity of the presidential and vice presidential nominee, but the candidates for the top positions in a John Kerry administration are a mystery.

While final decisions about top Kerry appointees would not be made until after the election, the convention will be filled with initial jockeying by surrogates for candidates.

Those who would fill the upper echelons of a Kerry administration are important, particularly in areas such as communications where Senator Kerry does not have a track record.

The favorite for chairmanship of the Federal Communications Commission is a former Kerry legislative director Gregg Rothschild.

Familiar with congressional politics and the Massachusetts high-tech industry, Mr. Rothschild would also be politically close to the inner circle of Mr. Kerry’s advisors.

A President-elect Kerry might also be under some political pressure to appoint the first female FCC chair. Women to watch include Kathleen Wallman, Gloria Tristani, Julia Johnson, Susan Ness, and Jo Anne Sanford.

Perhaps the most intriguing Democratic candidate to head the FCC is FCC Commissioner Michael Copps.

By January 2005, Mr. Copps will likely be the only Democrat remaining at the FCC and would become acting chairman by default should Mr. Kerry be elected president.

The term of the other Democrat, Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, has already expired and he will leave the commission on December 31 unless renominated and reconfirmed.

By the standards of recent history, Mr. Copps could expect to be interim chairman from four to six months. Dur ing the first six months of 2005, should Mr. Kerry be elected president, major mergers would face difficult obstacles in clearing the FCC.

Mr. Copps is a protege of Senator Hollings, an early supporter of Mr. Kerry. But Mr. Copps is a compelling candidate for chairmanship not because of whom he knows but because of what he has done.

Mr. Copps has attained near sainthood among progressive activists who follow the FCC.

Among conservative observers, Mr. Copps is feared even more than distrusted.

Although many politicians claim credit for having derailed the FCC’s 2003 media ownership rules, dealing with how many broadcast stations one company can own, any detached observer must give almost the entire credit to Mr. Copps. It was the greatest political coup in Washington since Republicans thwarted Hillary Care.

In 2003, the Republican majority on the FCC voted to relax regulatory restrictions on media ownership. A routine change if made in 2001 became a political firestorm in 2003.

With bills co-sponsored by Senators Kerry and Edwards, Congress immediately overturned part of the FCC order. Much of the remainder was recently reversed by an Appeals Court.

It was Mr. Copps who argued incessantly against the rules when the Democratic base had already conceded defeat. It was Mr. Copps who organized town hall meetings across America to energize the Democratic base and to convince them that the FCC rules could be

defeated. It was Mr. Copps who helped organize the largest grassroots e-mail campaign in world history to pressure Washington politicians to help defeat the FCC media ownership rules. Practically every tactic that helped defeat the rules had the fingerprints of Mr. Copps.

Unlike Mr.Edwards,Mr.Copps is not a gifted speaker. Unlike Mr. Kerry, Mr. Copps is neither wealthy nor well-connected. But in understanding American politics, Mr. Copps is second to none.

On many issues important to Chair man Michael Powell, Mr. Copps has been the unwavering voice of opposition.

His opposition has annoyed the chairman, and occasionally even forced him to change positions. For example, Mr. Copps effectively forced Mr. Powell to reverse a long-held position of detachment on broadcast indecency so as not to cede the high ground to Mr. Copps.

Mr. Copps’s populist positions are anathema to Wall Street. He is proud of his skepticism of Big Business, mergers, and deregulation. And Mr. Copps is unafraid to speak his mind and to vote his conscience.

If a President Kerry were to ask Wall Street for a choice for the FCC, many responses would likely be “Anyone But Copps.”

In the past three and a half years, Mr. Copps has been the most effective Democrat appointee in confounding the Bush administration. His success has created a political following that Mr. Kerry, should he be elected, may not be able to ignore.