Good News...McCain And Obama Looking For Ways To Work Together UPDATE: Joint Statement Released

Look, I'm on record as saying it's important that winning and losing candidates observe some basic formalities after an election. However, I worry that McCain maybe taking this beyond what politeness and decorum require.

Obama said that he and McCain were "just gonna have a good conversation about how we can do some work together to fix up the country. And also to offer thanks to Sen. McCain for the outstanding service he's already rendered."

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

It could just be my animosity for McCain getting the better of me but it seems some people are pretty excited about McCain and Obama working together.

Lynn Tramonte, policy director at the pro-immigration group America's Voice, expressed hope for a new stab at US immigration reform after conservative opposition sank a law designed to bring 12 million illegals out of the shadows.

"President-elect Obama and Senator McCain have been champions of immigration reform in the past, and they would make a formidable team going forward," she said.

Awesome!

So, let the guessing begin...what issue will be the first on which McCain joins with Democrats in helping to shut down a filibuster (assuming Democrats don't wind up with 60 seats)? There are a lot of issues to chose from. It could be some sort of cap and trade system, new regulations to take care of those bastards on Wall Street, immigration, judges or maybe even taxes.

UPDATE: Below the fold, their joint statement.

"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. 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."

Here's the thing, 'partisanship' is not a bad thing. In fact, it can be very healthy. When one party wants to do something staggeringly stupid, it's the job of the other party to STOP THEM, not join them in pushing the country over the cliff.

I wish McCain would shut up about 'government waste'. Yeah, that's a problem but a small one compared to government encroachment into areas it doesn't belong in the first place. No amount of efficiency makes me want the government to get involved in regulating the economy to stop 'global warming', 'fix' education or a host of other issues.

posted by DrewM. at 01:27 PM

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