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BY DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK WASHINGTON — Not long after Senator John McCain returned last month from an official trip to Iraq and Pakistan, he received a phone call from President-elect Barack Obama. As contenders for the presidency, the two had hammered each other for much of 2008 over their conflicting approaches to foreign policy, especially in Iraq. (He’d lose a war! He’d stay a hundred years!) Now, however, Mr. Obama said he wanted Mr. McCain’s advice, people in each camp briefed on the conversation said. What did he see on the trip? What did he learn? It was just one...

HANNITY: Do you think she could be president one day? MCCAIN: Sure, sure. But I'd also like to point out that it's very early in this whole season. HANNITY: Are you thinking of running again? MCCAIN: I was -- no, no, no, but I -- you know, my political corpse is still warm, as you know, but I -- you know, there's going to be, I think, a spirited contest for the nomination of our party, and I think there are also other governors that will be competitive. People like Bobby Jindal and John Huntsman and Tim Pawlenty and Mark...

RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, have you thought back to the 2008 election? Have you asked yourself who was responsible for that loss? Have you asked yourself who really should shoulder the blame and the burden for the defeat of Senator McCain? A lot of people have been speculating this, a lot of postmortems on the election. Let's go to the BBC. BBC World Service, host Stephen Sackur spoke with former McCain campaign manager Rick Davis and asked Rick Davis on whose shoulders rests the burden of the McCain defeat. DAVIS: We didn't successfully reach out to them. I mean, but...

McCain Keeps Wife from 'Dancing With The Stars' @ 1:31 pm by Walter Alarkon Cindy McCain wanted to compete on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," but her famous politician husband wouldn't let her do it, according to The New York Post. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) refused to let his wife appear as a dancer on the popular reality show, even though she "wanted to do it very badly," according to an unnamed source who spoke to the Post's gossip column, Page Six. Cindy McCain had gone as far as speaking to ABC producers about going on the show, the source...

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., introduced Gov. Janet Napolitano to his fellow senators Thursday, saying she has a "no-nonsense" attitude that will serve her well as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. McCain introduced Napolitano to the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, which questioned the Arizona Democrat about her credentials. McCain told committee members that Napolitano has served Arizona as a United States Attorney, Attorney General and governor and that, in 2005, she was named one of America's Top Five Governors by "Time" magazine, which stated, "Positioning herself as a no-nonsense, pro-business centrist, she has worked outside party...

One of Barack Obama's closest political allies and one of John McCain's will share duties at a dinner Monday night Obama is hosting to honor McCain, whom he vanquished in the November election.

WASHINGTON — To look at President-elect Barack Obama and Sen. Lindsey Graham sitting side by side Wednesday and to hear them passing out praise, you wouldn't know that scarcely 10 weeks ago they were at political war. Graham, a South Carolina Republican, is a close friend of Sen. John McCain and crisscrossed the country with him during his losing presidential bid. "I think this is a good way to get started," Graham said as he sat with Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden before a throng of journalists at the Obama transition headquarters in Washington. "The campaign is over. I'm...

I just saw YET ANOTHER news clip from..... I dunno, human events. The source doesn't matter. What's happening? Amnesty. Who's involved? Of course, McCain. I just cannot figure it out. I can't. Why? If he gets amnesty passed, that by far overshadows every heroic/patriotic action he's ever done in his life. Why would he do this?

As President-Elect Obama readies his ascent to the White House less than two weeks from now, it appears that his political acumen extends not only to those in all parts of the Democratic party, but in no small part to Senator John McCain as well. Just three short months ago we were inundated with McCain's talk of Bill Ayres and 'That One,' but an easy détente appears to have developed between the former rivals. To that end, President-Elect Obama has committed four distinct acts that telegraph his political savvy when it comes to Senator McCain.. . . . .With Napolitano...

(CNN) — Meghan McCain has drawn headlines for her unfiltered take on the presidential campaign, but there’s one topic the outspoken daughter of last year’s Republican presidential nominee won’t touch: her father’s running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. In an interview with the Monday Morning Clacker blog, McCain discussed her love for burlesque queen Dita Von Teese, calling her “spectacular… everything she does is genius. Her book still sits on my coffee table.” She also said she was “inspired by Bikers For McCain and want[s] to go back to Sturgis next year and do bike week right.” But she wouldn’t...

John McCain looked every bit the seething, uncomfortable vanquished rival in that first, awkward post-election press conference on those enormous chairs. It sounds like he's kind of still that way. The defeated Republican presidential nominee won't be doing any press or TV interviews for "at least several more weeks," his people tell Politico. And he's clearly still angry at former running mate Sarah Palin, for going ROGUE:

A political party shouldn't rely on a dead idea. BY MATT MILLERThe Wall Street Journal Though Barack Obama is offering record tax cuts this year as part of a new stimulus package, make no mistake -- taxes will rise substantially in the next decade. The reason is simple: As 76 million baby boomers hit their rocking chairs, we're poised to double the number of seniors on Social Security and Medicare. We've already got $50 trillion in unfunded liabilities in these and related programs. There's no way to make the math work at current levels of taxation. Don't take my word...

Sen. John McCain doesn’t want to talk about the presidential campaign, and he certainly doesn’t want to discuss Sarah Palin… During a GOP-senators retreat this week at the Library of Congress, McCain told his colleagues that Republicans need to reach out more to diverse groups, rather than just relying on Christian conservatives, if they want to regain majority status, according to sources who attended the event. “[McCain] talked about the lessons he learned on the campaign trial, and the ‘discussion’ he had with the American public and what he learned from it,” said one GOP insider. But the man who...

WASHINGTON (CNN) – John McCain said Friday that his former rival Barack Obama has put together an "excellent" national security team, and defended the selection of Leon Panetta to head the Central Intelligence Agency. "I'm not here trying to argue that this president is perfect and that there aren’t still disagreements, but I do think his national security team is an excellent one," McCain told Fox News. He described his post-election conversations with Obama as "cordial" and said he has spoken with the president-elect about the situations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Asked about Obama's decision to name Panetta to...

MANASSAS, Va., Jan. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Wednesday afternoon, Senator and former presidential hopeful, John McCain, announced the creation of his new grassroots organization named "Country First." Commenting on the new organization, ConservativeHQ.com Chairman Richard Viguerie stated, "Senator John McCain is a General without an army. He's attempting to lead but he has no followers because his trumpet does not sound certain." In a message sent to presidential supporters, Senator McCain described the new organization as an effort to "better define our Republican ideals and message, recruit and back, strong, dedicated candidates and continue our efforts to bring real reform...

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), fresh off his disappointing bid for the White House, returned to a familiar role in the Senate on Wednesday, shaking up his own party and reaching across the aisle to Democrats.

Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) are renewing their longtime reform partnership to launch an aggressive attack on earmarks. McCain, back to the daily Senate routine after his failed White House bid, joined Sens. Feingold, Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) on Wednesday to unveil a landmark bill they will try to add as an amendment to the economic stimulus legislation.

Sens. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Wednesday dusted off the reform mantle and formally launched their latest crusade: significantly curbing the use of earmarks in appropriations.

My Friend, In the time since the 2008 presidential campaign ended I have had a chance to reflect on many things. And as I said on election night, I truly cannot adequately express how indebted I am to you, my entire campaign team and my running mate, Governor Sarah Palin. The road was a difficult one from the outset. Yet, your faith, your support and friendship never wavered. Just as I have proudly served my country for more than half a century I am as committed as ever to helping see our mission through. So to continue the movement, I...

WASHINGTON (CNN)—Arizona Senator John McCain is adopting a major 2008 campaign slogan for a new political action committee designed to support not only his own planned re-election run in two years, but help him put his stamp on the rebuilding of the Republican Party. The formation of the “Country First” PAC is to be announced Wednesday, two sources familiar with the plans tell CNN. One of the sources called it the “first official step” of the GOP Senator’s re-election campaign. McCain made it clear not long after losing the presidential election that he intended to seek re-election to the Senate...