CHICAGO - President-elect Barack Obama and former Republican rival John McCain pledged Monday to work together on ways to change Washington's "bad habits," though aides to both men said it was unlikely McCain would serve in an Obama Cabinet.

The two former rivals met in Obama's transition headquarters in Chicago. 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 Sen. 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 South Carolina Republican Sen. 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, who resigned his Senate seat on Sunday, has been interviewing some of his one-time political opponents to help him run the country, but advisers to the former candidate have said they don't expect Obama to consider McCain for an administration job when the new president takes office on January 20th.