The Obama transition team has put out word this morning that the president-elect and John McCain are to meet Monday in Chicago. The sit-down will mark the first time since last week's election that the former presidential rivals will visit.



"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," said transition spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter, in a statement.



It's also in both their interests to be seen letting the past be but the past. For Obama, the meeting ideally underscores his post-partisan mantra and shows to some still-skeptical voters that he really is committed to working with Republicans for the good of the country. For McCain, it's an important step in his rehabiliation effort. Americans, as the Arizonan himself often says, don't like sore losers. What's more, McCain wants to continue to be a player in the capital. With Democrats in charge of the White House and Senate, he needs such public displays of hatchet-burying to win back his pre-presidential role as congressional dealmaker.



And, in that vein, it's no accident that the two former foes will be joined by close confidants: Rahm Emanuel and Lindsey Graham. The incoming chief of staff and the South Carolina senator worked as the campaigns' emissaries to the presidential debate commission and got along well in the process, associates to both say. It was no accident that when Emanuel was tapped by Obama last week, Graham issued a generous statement saluting the move while other Republicans scorned the new president for installing a hard-nosed partisan in the White House.



It's smart politics on both sides. Obama and Emanuel can get on the good side of two Republican senators who have shown a willingness to break with their party and could provide key votes in the years ahead. And McCain and Graham can start to reposition themselves as the mavericks of yore, playing for history but also maintaining relevance at a time when Republicans have little influence.

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