Dateline catches up with US political commentator Arnie Arneson about the Democratic race for the White House.

Some would think by now, that we'd know who had won the Democratic nomination. But Hillary is still hanging in there, despite many commentators calling on her to give up the fight.

Have Your Say: Who do you think should be the next US president?

Dateline caught up with Ms Arneson earlier this year when Mark Davis went on the road with Republican hopeful John McCain.

TRANSCRIPT

Well, is it all over bar the proverbial shouting for Hillary and Bill - the old dream team the Americans once had - even though now that they don't seem to want the new one of Hillary and Barack Obama? To bring ‘Dateline’ up to date, earlier today - just after Hillary, the obstinate, had taken out the West Virginia primary against Obama – George Negus caught up with an old Dateline friend, the rambunctious US radio talk show host, Arnie Arneson.

GEORGE NEGUS: Arnie, it is good to talk to you again. Can you help a poor, stumbling Australian out of a dilemma here? I can't work out for the life of me whether Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are trying to politically kill each other or whether they are going to suddenly announce that they have been secretly in love all the time.

ARNIE ARNESON, US POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't know, it is a toss-up, honey. What can I tell ya. They just closed the polls in West Virginia and like 37 seconds later Hillary announces that she wins. And what we know right now is is that she has got to figure out a graceful way of exiting and Barack Obama has to bite his lower lip and say, "We're going to miss you." And nobody is going to believe it either.

GEORGE NEGUS: True, true. I mean, if you believe both camps, in the last few days, though, there have been noises of reconciliation, there have been noises about even the dream ticket that people also - I think when you and I talked last week - said was out of the question. I mean, now they are beginning to see the light, as it were, that they've actually got a winning combination here if they bother to grab hold of it.

ARNIE ARNESON: Well, I'm not sure it's a winning connotation. And I was looking at a blog post just before I came on the air and the blog post said this - "Hillary won't leave, Barack doesn't care." And I think that really sums up what the next couple of weeks if not days are going to be about. And the problem I think for Barack Obama is that if he really represents change how then do you recycle the Clintons? I mean, the Clintons are so about the past. The Clintons are sort of about the bad behaviour of Washington and he's trying to bring a new message. I mean, if you listen to Teddy Kennedy, that is the last thing he wants to see on the panel is Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, because in some ways it steps on Barack's message. And you know what? I'm not sure, what do you do with Bill? I mean, that is the real problem here.

GEORGE NEGUS: 'Cause I heard somebody say that if Hillary was to get to the White House, the big question on the beltway in Washington is, where would Bill sleep?

ARNIE ARNESON: Well, I'm telling you, this is really a problem. They have been such a package deal for so long and one of the things I think Barack Obama has to sort of ask himself is, I need to figure out my way around the White House. I need to figure out my way around the executive ranch. Why would I want the Clintons basically holding my arm and saying, 'Not a problem, let us help you out.'?" That's not exactly a way to bring about the new direction that everybody says they want in Washington.

GEORGE NEGUS: So it sounds to me like you don't buy the line that says, Hillary does at least know her way around the White House and does at least know her way around Washington and that could in fact be an advantage to Obama, if he was the president and she was the vice-president?

ARNIE ARNESON: The problem is exactly that. I mean, that is the problem. That is her asset but it is also her liability for Barack Obama.

GEORGE NEGUS: Right.

ARNIE ARNESON: I think what Barack Obama really wants to do is he really wants to look for someone who has that sense of Washington but also is going to bring to the table a strong, kind of military background, someone who has a real foreign policy background. I think it would be a winning combination. I am going to float something by you which is going to blow your mind. You know what I imagine? I imagine a Barack Obama and a Colin Powell. I mean, if they can't handle one black, why not give them two? But look at the two that you would bring to the table. The Republicans would be so jealous because they want a Colin Powell too. That would be a great one-two punch.

GEORGE NEGUS: Are you saying that America couldn't handle a woman as president but they could handle two black men as president and vice-president?

ARNIE ARNESON: Well, but think of the combination! I mean, George, we can start the rumour here in Australia. It would be great. I'm kind of joking about the Colin Powell idea. If it's not Colin Powell it is someone in that kind of genre that I think is really what he wants. And I think the Democrats - especially when you see how many new Democrats have entered into this conversation during the presidential primary, they did not come in because of Hillary Clinton. They came in because of Barack Obama. They are really sending a huge message that they really want to look in a new direction for the Democratic Party and I don't think Hillary Clinton fills that bill.

GEORGE NEGUS: Why is Barack running around saying things like, "There is no doubt that she's qualified to be vice-president, there is no doubt she is qualified to be president. She is tireless, she's smart, she is capable." It would be basically saying it would be off your brain not to consider her as vice-president. So is this a man speaking with a forked tongue?

ARNIE ARNESON: Well, no, no, no, no, I think he is charming, I think he's being very honest that she's very capable. The question is is that you don't sleep with everyone that's capable. You don't walk around and make them your partner. I mean, there are a lot of capable people and I think she may be capable of being president or even a vice-president, but just not with him, not at this time, not given what the country wants, not given the message that he wants to deliver in the November election. And again, one of the problems for Hillary Clinton is not just that she's the first woman on this presidential stage, but she really is the first spouse on this presidential stage and it's the Bill Clinton problem that haunts her.

GEORGE NEGUS: Right, so when Bill says - this is what he is saying, because he obviously sees at least his wife getting the second best job in the country, "Pairing the two would be almost unstoppable," he says. Now, that's Bill saying to Hillary, "If you don't mind me saying, darling, if you don't put your hand up for vice-president you're dead."

ARNIE ARNESON: Well, I think that is true, but let's remember, there are a lot of things that Hillary Clinton has to put through this calculation. One, she has a US$20 million debt, so she obviously wants to retire that debt, she also wants to have a political future so obviously the idea of being a vice-president would be good for her political future. She may also be looking at the governor's seat in New York State. I mean, there are so many options here. She wants as many doors open as possible, because she wants to be viable, because she's too young. And I think, you know, she wants to figure out where does she go next and if it's not vice-president there are a lot of other options for Hillary Clinton and Barack knows that and so does Hill and Bill.

GEORGE NEGUS: Let's round this off. Does this mean in terms of the big one - not the battle between Hillary and Obama but the real battle with this other guy, John McCain. I mean, the danger is of course that this has caused the Democrats so much damage that the septuagenarian could go straight through the middle.

ARNIE ARNESON: Well, but based on what? What does John McCain understand about the economy? Niente. What does John McCain want to do? He wants to continue our policies in Iraq, he is the continuation of the Bush third term. I mean, George Bush's numbers are so in the toilet it's unbelievable. So for John McCain, maybe if there is a slight schism right now that's an easy schism to actually heal, because in the end people are going to sit there and say, "Wait a minute, if I wanted Hillary Clinton, what did I want her for? "I wanted her because she understood my economic status. I wanted her because she understood about the war. I wanted her because she understood about the environment." Think of all the conga line of issues that you care about and what the heck does John McCain respond to when it comes to those issues? He has no agenda that talks about change, he has no agenda that wants to heal their economic woes.

GEORGE NEGUS: Right, Arnie, I think we will stop there because you're beginning to sound like a presidential candidate yourself.

ARNIE ARNESON: Ah, don't worry about it.

GEORGE NEGUS: Nice talking to you, always is. We'll talk again before November, I'm sure.

ARNIE ARNESON: It is a deal, George.

GEORGE NEGUS: Arnie Arneson on the rise and apparent fall of Hillary Clinton. Arnie, by the way, told me she reckons Hillary's been the victim of not political sexism, but political marriageism. Great line.

Credits

Interview Producer / Researcher

Jane Worthington

Editor

Jason Diepeveen