Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008

Ex-foes Obama, McCain to seek common ground

Ready to ‘move on,’ McCain to attend Chicago meeting with president-elect

WASHINGTON — John McCain’s close friend and ally from South Carolina, fellow Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, will be on hand in Chicago Monday as McCain meets with his former rival, President-elect Barack Obama.

Also attending will be Obama’s new chief of staff, Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill.

In an interview Friday, Graham said Emanuel asked for the meeting about a week ago.

“We were talking about some things that we could work together on,” Graham said.

Graham mentioned immigration policy and a long-term strategy for Social Security solvency as areas where bipartisan solutions are needed. McCain also has supported lifting restrictions on federal funding for stem-cell research and has championed campaign-finance and anti-corruption efforts, stances that appeal to Obama.

While McCain was at times dismissive toward Obama during the campaign, Graham said Friday that McCain was “very duty-oriented” and that “the election’s over. It’s time to move on.”

Advisers to both McCain and Obama say they don’t expect an administration post for the defeated Republican presidential nominee. But Obama’s aides say he would like to have the Arizona senator partner with him on legislation they both have advocated.

All this fits with an idea Obama often talked about on the campaign trail, as he praised the presidency of Abraham Lincoln as described by Doris Kearns Goodwin in her book “Team of Rivals.”

“Lincoln basically pulled in all the people who had been running against him into his Cabinet because whatever personal feelings there were, the issue was: How can we get this country through this time of crisis?” Obama said at one point.

Lincoln appointed three of his rivals for the Republican nomination to his Cabinet. Obama turned to one rival for vice president, picking Democratic primary candidate Joe Biden even though Biden had questioned whether Obama had the experience to be president.

Obama has endeavored to strike a bipartisan tone during his first two weeks as president-elect. He paired a Republican and a Democrat to meet with at least 15 foreign leaders this weekend on his behalf in Washington, for example.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, a Democrat, and former Rep. Jim Leach, an Iowa Republican, are meeting with foreign representatives who are in Washington for the global economic summit.

Nedra Pickler of The Associated Press contributed to this report.