McCain and Obama to Have “Sit-Down”

File this under “things I didn’t see coming” but it appears that John McCain and President-Elect Obama will be having a long meeting in Chicago this week.

After fiercely competing against each other for five months, President-elect Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain are scheduled to have their first post-election meeting Monday at the transition headquarters in Chicago. “It’s well known that they share an important belief that Americans want and deserve a more effective and efficient government, and will discuss ways to work together to make that a reality,” transition spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said in a statement. The president-elect and the Arizona Republican will be joined by Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina and close McCain friend, and Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the Chicago Democrat who will serve as Obama’s White House chief of staff.

Starting right on the evening of November 4, John McCain continues to impress me. Not only was his concession speech elegant and dignified, his subsequent media appearances reflect the maturity and general good nature which many have come to expect of him. And now he has agreed to a serious meeting with his former opponent on plans for the future of the nation. Such a meeting does a lot for Obama in terms of “healing the nation” and working with everyone in his new administration. Conversely, it’s hard to picture what this does for McCain. It seems like a very generous gesture on his part.

Will they discuss new policy proposals which McCain will be a partner in advancing? Could Obama be considering offering a position in the new administration to his vanquished opponent? Either way, if he can show that he’s moving quickly to work together with the man he battled so fiercely all summer it will be a feather in his cap. My hat is off to Senator McCain, and here’s hoping something productive comes from the meeting.

UPDATE: As Manchester points out in the comments section, this is almost undoubtedly a meeting on policy initiatives. McCain could hardly consider a cabinet position under current conditions, since Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano would then be free to place a Democrat in his Senate seat. (I’ll need to double-check how they handle Senate replacements in Arizona, actually, but the GOP would hardly want to put the seat up for grabs under any conditions.)