One of the GOP base's biggest gripes about McCain was that so many times he went out of his way to stick it to his own party.

Now that he has lost, he knows his shot at being President is OVER, what motivation does he have to tow the party line? Here's his chance to back away from his Crazy Old Man NeoCon routine he had last Summer and go back to being a Maverick.

And he can do that by helping Obama. And Obama's smart enough to start courting him almost immediately. Good on ya, President-Elect!

West Wing lives!

Yet another parallel between this election and the one in the last seasons of WW.

And McCain didn't invite Palin to his big dinner tonight, so apparently the good blood in this situation doesn't extend that far. Heh.

Didn't Clinton eventually forge a similar relationship with Bob Dole after the '96 election?

During the primary and general elections I kept pointing out that one of the things I liked about Obama was his willingness to work with people, even those he disagreed with on many issues. Many people blasted me, saying that nothing good could come from talking with Republicans, but I disagreed. One thing I have come to understand is that almost no one is purely liberal or conservative. If we bother to listen to people we can find common ground on some issues. A wise leader understands this and tries not to make enemies. McCain is an excellent example of this. Sure, he and Obama will not agree on everything, but they will surely agree on something. If Obama maintains good working relationships with enough Republicans, then he can get their support on certain legislation. Only a handful of Republicans are needed to get most legislation passed. It isn't likely to be the same Republicans each time, but that isn't the point. The point is that with each individual legislator there is the posibility of common ground some of the time.

Knowing this and using it is part of being a good leader.

issues where they share common ground, "including a commission to cut 'corporate welfare

Since when is McCain against corporate welfare. It seems that his off-shore drilling campaign was nothing more than letting oil companies have more leases. His 5000 dollar health care rebate was a subsidy to insurance companies. Cap gains tax cuts? Corp tax cuts? And when he voted for the TARP, the only part he complained about was the earmarks. Even his vote against the auto bailout was, in actuality, a vote against union obstruction.

As a matter of record, most losing Presidential candidates in the modern era held no public office once the campaign was over, let alone a senior position in the Senate. Exceptions were George McGovern in 1972 and John Kerry in 2004, both of them detested by the man to whom they lost the Presidency. So while a policy relationship between Sen. McCain and the new President would be unusual, the main reason for this is simply that McCain kept his Senate seat.

Just want to note that Obama's unwillingness to go negative, widely criticized during the campaign, makes this kind of approach more possible. McCain's gotta feel kinda shitty for the things his campaign said, and will especially appreciate Obama's willingness to wave them off as just "campaign rhetoric."

After FDR defeated Wendell Willke in the election of 1940 (where there was much ado about breaking the 2-term tradition and strong isolationist opposition to supporting Britain...one of the leaders was JFK's father!), he appointed Willke as a personal diplomatic representative, which post the latter fulfilled until he died in 1944.

Mark my words - no Senator will be as powerful as John McCain in the next two years. He will remember who stood with him and who against in his campaign.

Actually, when Joe's Rotor Palin Rooter service refused to make a house call for a leaking pipe, he knew he had to change to Hope Plumbing.

This is a very good idea on Obama's part. His background is in community organizing, and the senate and the Republican party may be his biggest challenge yet, but he certainly has been successful so far. Things will get harder for him, but it appears to me that he is cutting the Republicans off at the knees.

By marginalizing the Republican right and promoting the Republican center (such as it is) he's laying the groundwork for his re-election. It's not to early to start running for his next term!

Obama seems to me to be a centrist, and as aware of symbolism as Karl Rove. I loved the visit to the Tomb of the Unknown, Pete Seeger singing, Tiger Woods, the Lincoln bible and the train ride. They were brilliant symbols that all kinds of Americans can relate to. The difference between Obama an Bush is that Obama understands the symbols and their import, and isn't just using them for cynical purposes.

And the Marian Anderson moment was outstanding.

Lincoln and Douglas would be a precedent for this. So, as Jrosen points out, is FDR and Willkie. Not sure beyond that, but not totally unprecedented.

It makes sense, at any rate. Flatter McCain's ego, and he might be a Republican vote for administration policies.

And the Marian Anderson moment was outstanding.

Don't you just love the Marian - Michelle - Maila/Sasha progression? I't like the evolution of smile.

Wow, this is a very different reaction than I would have expected on other blogs (crooksandliars.com, I'm looking at you!). You should have seen the reaction to the "Obama had dinner with Kristol and Will" story.

Personally, I agree that Obama is being smart about this. Reaching out to republicans and stroking their egos can't hurt, because he's plenty smart enough not to suddenly change his mind on ending Iraq and Bush's tax cuts. And it could end up paying huge dividends down the road, if he manages to flatter them into helping out or at least being less partisan.

Obama hired his biggest opponent in the nomination process to be his Secretary of State. He obviously can separate campaign rhetoric from value. So why be surprised about overtures to McCain? John, like Hillary, was not the absolutely awful, evil person left blogs painted him to be. Both will be very useful to the country and Obama has the good sense to recognize that.

This is going to be rich with irony for the Right. John McCain, who really does personally believe in putting "country first," just might turn out to be Vote #60 to break Republican filibusters on the economic program, on global warming, on immigration reform, on military reform, and likely on healthcare reform.

Can't you just hear the Orcs as they scream and yell down there in Mordor as the walls cave in on them???

That sneaky Barack HUSSEIN Obama is co-opting his enemies one at a time, before they can even strike a blow. Magic? Nobody's seen the magic he can work!

I just hope he leaves Joe LIEberman twisting slowly, slowly in the wind.

There's no modern precedent for this kind of connection between a president and the candidate he defeated, but I guess it's all part of Obama's pledge to change the way business is done in Washington.

Obama seems secure in his beliefs, and McCain labile in his, so some campaign pillow fights are hardly real emotion or commitment to ideals that would sour a relationship. They have much more in common as ambitious senators than differences over how to hoodwink the citizenry. I don't think McCain really wanted to be president; Obama saved him from it.