McCain returns to U.S. Congress after yearlong campaign

Source: Xinhua | 11-19-2008 09:14

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Former Republican presidential candidate John McCain returned to the Senate on Tuesday where he is in his fourth term after a yearlong campaign.

According to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Arizona senator appeared in the floor for a meeting of Republican lawmakers and reunited with his colleagues.

It was the first time for the 72-year-old senator to return to the Congress after he lost the presidential elections on Nov. 4 to his Democratic rival, Barack Obama.

His aids told CNN that McCain expected to resume full-time service in the Senate after a nearly two-year hiatus.

The TV report also cited political observers as saying that McCain, unlike some other losers in the presidential elections, would "resist retreating into the wildness, and is instead likely to seek an active role in the Senate" after it begins a new term in January.

Observers also expected the Republican maverick who was able to reach across the aisle to work together with the Democratic government after Obama takes over the White House.

The two met for the first time since the election at the president-elect's transition headquarters in Chicago on Monday, and pledged a "new era of reform" to solve key challenges the country is facing, including the economic crisis, energy policy and national security.

"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 hard-working American family," Obama and the Arizona senator said in a joint statement after the meeting.

However, Obama did not offer McCain any position in his government.

Editor:Zheng Limin