washington <u+2014> senator tim kaine <u+2019>s second-floor office is much as he left it, with a minifridge full of virginia-made hummus and an ipod playlist heavy on bluegrass and classic rock. the trademark harmonicas have been holstered, at least for now, his audience shrinking from a spellbound national electorate to a spirited weekday gathering of the virginia chamber of commerce . and his campaign plane? it was repurposed this past week to deliver the united states men<u+2019>s soccer team to a match in costa rica , with only one lingering reminder <u+2014> an h on the tail <u+2014> of the first female presidential nominee for a major party in american history and the affable dad-jeans, purple-state running mate who traveled the country making her case. <u+201c>i like feet on the ground,<u+201d> mr. kaine said with a smile this past week, suggesting he was not dwelling on the trappings of temporary fame. he boarded an elevator in the basement of the capitol, nowhere to go but up. such is mr. kaine<u+2019>s view from the great election comedown of 2016: that quadrennial moment of humility, electoral grieving and reverse culture shock, foisted upon members of the losing ticket as they resume less glamorous public lives. secret service agents are reassigned. media scrums migrate elsewhere. the junior senator from virginia is, as it turns out, a heartbeat away from very little. yet as mr. kaine and his party seek to regain their bearings after a stunning loss , he has identified at least one task for himself in the interim: taking his place, as necessary, in the wall of opposition to president-elect donald j. trump . <u+201c>the democratic senate minority is about the only emergency brake there is on the train right now,<u+201d> mr. kaine said this past week, adding that the levers of obstruction must be used <u+201c>judiciously.<u+201d> <u+201c>to avoid a disaster,<u+201d> he added. <u+201c>you use it to avoid something really bad for the country.<u+201d> though fellow democrats, including aides to hillary clinton , have long trumpeted mr. kaine<u+2019>s appeal to multiple constituencies <u+2014> given his fluency in spanish, genial manner and eloquence on matters of faith <u+2014> his role in the party<u+2019>s long-term future is unclear. progressive activists have emerged from the election with a conviction that new voices must be elevated. mr. kaine, who is up for re-election in 2018, said that he would not seek the presidency or vice presidency in 2020. liberal stars like senator elizabeth warren of massachusetts and senator bernie sanders of vermont have delivered stern, rousing addresses about the way forward. no one is clamoring for a tim kaine revolution. but as senate democrats gird for bruising policy squabbles and confirmation hearings in a trump administration, they are expected to look to mr. kaine with particular urgency on foreign affairs. a member of the foreign relations and armed services committees, from a state with a major military presence, mr. kaine has made foreign policy a priority of his first term in the senate. he has seized especially the issue of war powers, breaking with president obama by calling for congress to provide authorization for military action against the islamic state. among his arguments, as he sought to galvanize democrats: there is no telling who might be president down the line. <u+201c>with trump<u+2019>s maybe erratic foreign policy, his leadership is more important,<u+201d> senator sherrod brown of ohio said of mr. kaine. <u+201c>i mean, we were sad to lose him,<u+201d> he added, referring to mr. kaine<u+2019>s now-dashed prospects in the executive branch. <u+201c>but we wanted to lose him, obviously.<u+201d> mr. kaine<u+2019>s purpose in recent days has seemed at times more therapeutic than strategic. with emotions still raw, he supplied a measure of catharsis for devastated supporters as he introduced mrs. clinton before her concession speech . he said what mrs. clinton chose not to <u+2014> that she had won the popular vote <u+2014> suggesting that the party<u+2019>s ideals remained resonant despite the outcome. and he channeled william faulkner to appraise the collective democratic psyche. <u+201c>they killed us,<u+201d> mr. kaine said, <u+201c>but they ain<u+2019>t whooped us yet.<u+201d> among losing running mates through the years, soul searching has assumed different forms. after the republican ticket<u+2019>s defeat in 1976, hubert h. humphrey tried to lift the spirits of his despondent friend, bob dole, the party<u+2019>s vice-presidential nominee, with an ice cream outing. after a loss in 1980, former vice president walter mondale went on to be democrats<u+2019> nominee for president in 1984, and lost 49 states to ronald reagan . sarah palin announced her resignation as alaska governor eight months after she and senator john mccain lost the 2008 election . mr. kaine, who has communicated occasionally with mrs. clinton since the defeat, is accustomed to jarring transitions. he recalled the day of his successor<u+2019>s inauguration as governor of virginia in 2010. <u+201c>they take you home, and they drop you off and then they drive away,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>i had the same feeling this time. shaking hands with everybody was very emotional, but watching the cars drive away, i had an immense feeling of relief.<u+201d> his most high-profile turn, a debate with vice president-elect mike pence , attracted a smattering of critics, who chafed at his repeated interruptions of his opponent onstage. mostly though, mr. kaine cultivated an unpretentious image during the campaign, introducing late-night comedy viewers to his assemblage of harmonicas, which remain in his briefcase, and urging voters to choose a <u+201c>you<u+2019>re hired<u+201d> president instead of a <u+201c>you<u+2019>re fired<u+201d> president. he often took the stage with a flurry of less-than-self-conscious gesticulations, like a third-base coach flashing signals, proving proficient at vigorous fist pumps and seemingly indiscriminate crowd-pointing. he once described life as a vice-presidential nominee, playfully, as being <u+201c> kidnapped .<u+201d> <u+201c>the entourage felt cool on occasion,<u+201d> he said this past week, <u+201c>but it was never me. so this is more me.<u+201d> senator benjamin l. cardin, democrat of maryland, said he expected little change from the <u+201c>energetically engaged, very well-informed<u+201d> colleague he had come to know before the election. mr. cardin did express a measure of concern about mr. kaine<u+2019>s short-term health. <u+201c>he<u+2019>s tired,<u+201d> mr. cardin said. <u+201c>he needs to gain a little weight back. he lost too much weight. but he<u+2019>ll get back to his fighting weight.<u+201d> sam borden contributed reporting from san jos<u+00e9>, costa rica. a version of this article appears in print on november 20, 2016, on page a24 of the new york edition with the headline: kaine readily recedes from his brush with fame: <u+2018>this is more me<u+2019>. order reprints | today's paper | subscribe
tim kaine readily moves out of spotlight: <u+2018>this is more me<u+2019>
matt flegenheimer thomas kaplan