Obama meets with McCain at transition office

The Associated Press ,  Chicago   |  Tue, 11/18/2008 2:14 PM  |  World

Former campaign rivals President-elect Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain met Monday to discuss working together in the future, in their first meeting since Obama beat McCain in a bitter election race.

The two met in Obama's transition headquarters in Chicago to discuss ways to reduce government waste, promote bipartisanship and find other ways to improve government.

Obama said before the meeting that he and McCain planned "a good conversation about how we can do some work together to fix up the country, and also to offer thanks to Sen. McCain for the outstanding service he's already rendered."

Obama and McCain sat together for a brief picture-taking moment with reporters, along with Rahm Emanuel, Obama's incoming White House chief of staff, and South Sen. Lindsey Graham, McCain's close friend. Obama and McCain were heard briefly discussing football, and Obama cracked that "the national press is tame compared to the Chicago press."

When asked if he planned to help the Obama administration, McCain replied, "Obviously."

After the meeting, Obama and McCain issued a joint statement saying: "At this defining moment in history, we believe that Americans of all parties want and need their leaders to come together and change the bad habits of Washington so that we can solve the common and urgent challenges of our time."

"It is in this spirit that we had a productive conversation today about the need to launch a new era of reform where we take on government waste and bitter partisanship in Washington in order to restore trust in government, and bring back prosperity and opportunity for every hardworking American family," it said. "We hope to work together in the days and months ahead on critical challenges like solving our financial crisis, creating a new energy economy, and protecting our nation's security."

Obama and McCain clashed bitterly during the fall campaign over taxes, the Iraq War, and ways to fix the ailing economy. Things got ugly at times, with McCain running ads comparing Obama to celebrities Britney Spears and Paris Hilton and raising questions about his rival's distant relationship with a 1960s-era radical, William Ayers.

Obama's campaign, meanwhile, labeled the 72-year old McCain "erratic" and ran a campaign ad falsely suggesting that McCain and Rush Limbaugh shared similar anti-immigration views.

McCain delivered a gracious concession speech on election night, paying tribute to Obama's historic ascendancy as the nation's first black president. The two agreed that night to meet after the election when McCain called Obama to concede defeat.

Obama, who resigned his Senate seat on Sunday, has been interviewing some of his one-time political opponents to help him run the country, but advisers to the former candidates have said they don't expect him to consider McCain for an administration job when the new president takes office on Jan. 20.

Emanuel and Graham, who also attended the meeting, have worked together before on issues in Congress, and Graham jumped to Emanuel's defense when Republicans criticized his appointment as Obama's chief of staff.

Meanwhile, Obama said in his first television interview since his historic election that Americans shouldn't worry about the growing federal deficit for the next couple of years and also urged help for the auto industry.

While investors are still riding a rollercoaster on Wall Street, Obama told CBS' "60 Minutes" in an interview broadcast Sunday that the economy would have deteriorated even more without the $700 billion bank bailout. Re-regulation is a legislative priority, he said, not to crush "the entrepreneurial spirit and risk-taking of American capitalism" but to "restore a sense of balance."

He also said, "We shouldn't worry about the deficit next year or even the year after. ... The most important thing is that we avoid a deepening recession."

Obama said he has spent the days since the election planning to stabilize the economy, restore consumer confidence, create jobs and get sound health care and energy policies through Congress.

Obama also acknowledged meeting with former Democratic primary rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton last week, but refused to say whether she was being considered for secretary of state, as has been widely reported. He also said the Republican party will be represented in his Cabinet.

In the CBS interview, Obama also said that as soon as he takes office he will work with his security team and the military to draw down U.S. troops in Iraq, shore up Afghanistan and "stamp out al-Qaida once and for all."

Obama confirmed reports that he intends to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, and "make sure we don't torture" as "part and parcel of an effort to regain America's moral stature in the world."
   
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