President Barack Obama had a meeting, held at Barack Obama’s transition headquarters in downtown Chicago, with his defeated Republican rival John McCain, on Monday. They have discussed about the way they could work together in order to roll back some of the Bush years’ most controversial policies.
The event is being considered by many as a major step in bridging the divide between Liberals and Conservatives, because this is the first time when a meeting occurred as quickly as this one.
Barack Obama, speaking before the meeting, said: "We’re going to have a good conversation about how we can do some work together to fix up the country." When asked by a reporter whether he would work with Obama, John McCain replied: "Obviously."
A joint statement was issued after the meeting in which the former rivals said they hoped to work together.
"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."
After his loss to President Bush in 2000, John McCain became the go-to Republican for Democrats looking for a partner on major bi-partisan pieces of legislation. Barack Obama is looking to McCain for that same type of support this time around.
Even if they had different opinions on tax policy and withdrawal from Iraq, they share common ground on the main issues. Both favor the closure of the Guantánamo Bay detention center, an increase in US troops to Afghanistan, immigration reform, stem cell research and measures to tackle climate change. Both men also and oppose torture, though McCain wavered on it a bit while seeking the nomination, and the widespread use of wire-tapping, though Obama voted for provisions to forgive telcos.
The meeting was perceived as productive "Where possible, the American people want us to work in a bipartisan fashion to address their problems. Today’s meeting was a positive step forward."( Lindsey Graham)