And yet, while his ultimate quest is over for good, there has been no time to really decompress. He has been busy since election night, his schedule fuller than any defeated candidate’s in modern history, including a talk show, a conciliatory appearance with Obama and a rush back to Washington. “I don’t think it’s all really hit him; I don’t see how it could have — I’d like him to get some R&R as soon as this is over,” says a former aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he thinks McCain, ever the contrarian, would reject his advice anyway…

His suit jacket off, McCain is going to have a haircut, actually, in the Senate barbershop, down in the basement of Russell. Clad in blue shirt sleeves, pumping his arms in that familiar charging way of his, he has fixed his stare dead ahead on the elevator. He comes to a stop beside a neatly dressed young man carrying a black tote bag stuffed with documents, waiting for his own elevator. “Obama for President” says the small campaign button on his bag.

The reminders are all around him, but he does not seem to mind.