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Obama and McCain to work on Washington's "bad habits"

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

November 18, 2008

CHICAGO - President-elect Barack Obama and former Republican rival John McCain pledged yesterday to work together on ways to change Washington's "bad habits," though aides to both men said it was unlikely McCain would serve in an Obama Cabinet.

The two men met in Obama's transition headquarters in Chicago for the first time since the Illinois senator vanquished McCain in the presidential election Nov. 4. Obama said they wanted to talk about "how we can do some work together to fix up the country," and he added that he would offer his own thanks to McCain "for the outstanding service he's already rendered."

Obama has said he is likely to invite at least one Republican to join his Cabinet, but McCain was not expected to be a candidate.

The Arizonan is serving his fourth term in the Senate.

Meanwhile, last night, The Guardian, a British newspaper, said on its Web site that Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) plans to accept the job of secretary of state offered by Obama. It did not cite any sources, saying simply "the Guardian has learned."

Other media outlets were not reporting the story, however, and Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo, an influential liberal-leaning political blog, said, "I'll believe it when I see it with some real sourcing and from another news outlet."

At the Obama, McCain session, the two men sat together for a picture-taking session with reporters, along with Rahm Emanuel, Obama's White House chief of staff, and South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, McCain's close friend.

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

After the meeting, the two 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."

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.

Obama's campaign, meanwhile, labeled McCain "erratic" and ran ads deriding his economic views.

On Election Night, McCain paid 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.