President-elect Barack Obama, second from right, meets with, from left, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and White House Chief of Staff-designate Rahm Emanuel, Monday, Nov. 17, 2008, at Obama's transition office in downtown Chicago. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

CHICAGO – Former campaign rivals President Elect Barack Obama and Senator John McCain met yesterday to discuss working together in the future, in their first meeting since Obama beat McCain in a bitter election race.

The two met in Obama's transition headquarters in Chicago to discuss ways to reduce government waste, promote bipartisanship and find other ways to improve government.

Obama said before the meeting that he and McCain planned "a good conversation about how we can do some work together to fix up the country, and also to offer thanks to Senator McCain for the outstanding service he's already rendered".

Obama and McCain sat together for a brief picture-taking moment with reporters, along with Rahm Emanuel, Obama's incoming White House chief of staff, and Senator Lindsey Graham, McCain's close friend. Obama and McCain were heard briefly discussing football, and Obama cracked that "the national Press is tame compared to the Chicago Press".

When asked if he planned to help the Obama administration, McCain replied: "Obviously."

After the meeting, Obama and McCain issued a joint statement saying: "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," it said.

"We hope to work together in the days and months ahead on critical challenges like solving our financial crisis, creating a new energy economy, and protecting our nation's security."

Obama also acknowledged meeting with former Democratic primary rival Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton last week, but refused to say whether she was being considered for secretary of state, as has been widely reported. (AP)