WASHINGTON, Nov 17: US President-elect Barack Obama and Senator John McCain met on Monday and pledged to work together, prompting media speculations that the Republican senator may get a senior position in the Obama administration.

The former rivals met in Mr Obama’s transition office in Chicago. Rahm Emanuel, the incoming White House chief of staff, attended the meeting, as did Sen McCain’s close friend, South Carolina Sen Lindsey Graham.

A joint statement issued after the meeting said they hoped to work together to “change the bad habits of Washington”. They agreed to cooperate with each other to deal with the financial crisis, to create a new energy economy and to combat security threats.

As the meeting began, Mr Obama said that he and Sen McCain would “have a good conversation about how we can do some work together to fix up the country.”

When asked if he planned to help the Obama administration, Sen McCain replied, “obviously”.

The joint statement further defined this spirit of cooperation, noting that “at this defining moment in history” all Americans “want and need their leaders to come together and change the bad habits of Washington. 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.”

Since Mr Obama has promised to reach across party lines to fill his cabinet with capable people, the meeting caused speculations that he was going to ask Sen McCain to join his government. But their advisers said the two leaders did not talk about any possible cabinet position for Mr McCain.

With strong Democratic majorities in both chambers of the US Congress, Mr Obama does not need bilateral support for routine legislation. But he has said that he would need and seek bilateral support for major items on his agenda.

These include measures for restoring confidence in the US economy, universal health-insurance coverage, withdrawing troops from Iraq, a new US policy for Afghanistan and dealing with the global warming.

His efforts to create an environment of cooperative goodwill include a meeting on Thursday with another former rival, Senator Hillary Clinton, which focussed on a possible role for her in his administration.

Mr Obama will also need Mr McCain’s support for passing an immigration bill he promised to push for after his election.