ASHINGTON - A planned meeting between George W. Bush and John McCain will take place despite tensions between the former rivals for the Republican presidential nomination.
''We didn't ask for this meeting and we would be glad to attend,'' McCain said from Vietnam yesterday, at the same time insisting that he and Bush needed an agenda for their discussion, planned for May 9 in Pittsburgh.
Jill Allbaugh, Bush's campaign manager, and John Weaver, McCain's political director, met at former senator Bob Dole's office yesterday to try to work out differences.
One source familiar with the meeting said Allbaugh and Weaver agreed to the following agenda: Social Security reform, education, health care, reducing the national debt, military reform and making the Republican Party more inclusive. The discussion will also include McCain's role at this summer's Republican National Convention and in the fall campaign.
Neither camp expects McCain to endorse Bush after the Pittsburgh meeting.
The meeting between the two had been in danger of being scrapped. McCain and his aides were aggravated that Bush had said that he was only interested in finding out if McCain would serve as his running mate. McCain has repeatedly said he would not run for the vice presidency.
