[Rick Lee]

My boss got promoted last week and so the jockeying to succeed him begins. Another guy on our team, who is one training class (i.e. three weeks) ahead of me has been groomed for this job from day one. He is our manager's pet. He's well-qualified, a top producer, well-respected by the rest of us, has an executive appearance and all of us on the team would be happy to have him as our new boss. But I feel like I need to go through the motions of applying for this position just to show my ambition and perhaps compete for a consolation prize. We all feel like the company is posting this job internally just to make us feel like it's not already decided, but we know it is.

How to write this cover letter?