McCain, Obama First Post-Election Meeting "Productive"

Chicago, IL (AHN) - Meeting for the first time since the election, President-elect Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) had a "productive conversation" on Monday about how to end "bitter partisanship" and "restore trust in government."

The two former rivals met at the Obama transition headquarters in Chicago at noon to begin talks about how to "work together." In a joint statement, they said, "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."

Expressing hope that they will work together in the days and months ahead, McCain and Obama added, "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."

The meeting comes a little less than two weeks since election day, when Obama became the first Democrat to win more than 51 percent of the popular vote since 1964.

In a brief photo-op before the private talks, the president-elect said thanked McCain, a decorated Vietnam War veteran and former prisoner of war, for "the outstanding service he's already rendered."

Joining the McCain and the president-elect were Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), who is leaving his post as House Democratic Caucus chair to become White House chief of staff, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a close friend of McCain who served as campaign surrogate. Emanuel and Lieberman represented the respective campaigns during negotiations about guidelines for three presidential debates.

McCain had offered a gracious concession speech election night according to pundits. He had asked supporters to "offer our next president our goodwill and earnest effort to find ways to come together... and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited."