WASHINGTON - Bob Schieffer has earned the right to have that "been there, done that" know-it-all arrogance so many veteran news people acquire. Instead, the 50-year newsman still looks like he's dying to tell the next person he meets the latest, and what it all means.

That was my impression after hearing a freewheeling address Schieffer gave at a gathering of radio executives Saturday. Having done it all for CBS News, the Texas native told us he had been ready to unplug the microphone in 2007 and launch a second career as a honky-tonk singer.

Thankfully, the CBS suits did themselves and country music a huge favor by persuading him to stick around for one more presidential rodeo. The "Face The Nation" host is glad they did. He's darn near giddy to be covering what's already one of our more historic elections. Come November, we're going to elect either the nation's first black or female president, or the oldest chief executive at first inauguration.

But the determining factor in who succeeds George W. Bush in the White House, Schieffer said with dramatic flair, could be the vice presidential candidates.

I rolled my eyes and reached for a trade newsletter. These Washington-types are obsessed with inside the Beltline cocktail talk, I thought. Out in the real world, no one casts a presidential vote based on who's on deck. If vice presidential candidates still mattered, John Kerry would have carried North Carolina.

But before I could turn to Page 2, Schieffer said Hillary Clinton needs Barack Obama as her running mate.

What was Bob smoking, I wondered. Hillary, more than her husband, puts a premium on loyalty. Obama is the enemy. John McCain has a better chance to be on the Clinton ticket than Obama does. But since Hillary Clinton prizes the presidency more than loyalty, I listened up.

Schieffer said Obama's place on a Clinton ticket is a must to prevent black voters from staying home in November. He's also needed to quell frustration among African-Americans that would surely arise from a Clinton victory at the convention should she enter it trailing in delegates, primary wins and popular votes -- which seems almost certain.

With that, I laid my newsletter down. Schieffer was spot on.

Republicans have learned to win elections without the African-American vote. Democrats haven't. Democratic Party superdelegates may favor Obama for the presidential nomination simply because they wouldn't want to run the risk that blacks would sit out the general election.

Of course, Obama isn't without his vice presidential needs, either. The "3 a.m. phone call" ad that Clinton used against him in the March 4 primaries ultimately benefits McCain. These days, national security is never far from a voter's mind. On that front McCain wins handily, unless Obama selects a wise old hand with the experience to know when diplomacy deteriorates into negotiations for negotiations' sake.

Schieffer suggested that he consider former Sen. Sam Nunn, who heads the well-respected Nuclear Threat Initiative. Plus, it's a good bet that Nunn could transform Georgia into a blue state and pick off other Southern states for the Democrats.

Schieffer then turned to McCain and his biggest vulnerability -- age. Since nearly every Republican possibility is considerably younger than McCain, Schieffer speculated the VP spot would go to the person who can deliver the most electoral votes. So much for South Carolina's Gov. Mark Sanford or North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr.

Based on that strategy -- the one John F. Kennedy utilized to win Texas and the presidency in 1960 when he selected Lyndon B. Johnson -- governors Rick Perry of Texas (34 votes) and Florida's Charlie Crist (27 votes) are probably in the driver's seat.

Ironically, the Republican with the heftiest bag of electoral votes, 55, is California's Arnold Schwarzenegger. But he's not eligible. The Constitution requires the president (and by extension the vice president) to be a natural-born U.S. citizen. Schwarzenegger was born in Austria.

I hope Schieffer continues reporting after the election. Journalism needs his wisdom and enthusiasm more than music needs his voice.

Trust me. I've heard him sing.

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