"We may meet again in primaries a few days from now and we have both earned a little rest," he told supporters Tuesday night, leaving unsaid that they may not meet again, too.

Coffee pots that had been brought out to keep bleary eyes awake as the results flowed in were stowed away about a half hour before the polls closed in California.

"You can't understand this campaign unless you come to Sedona," said McCain, speaking of his rustic Arizona cabin where he planned to huddle with aides Wednesday.

A senior McCain aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he expects McCain to depart the race Thursday but cautioned no firm decision had been made.

In front of his supporters, McCain asserted: "We will never give up this mission, my friends."

But that mission, as he described it, was not necessarily a political campaign, but could also be a more general effort to reform his party and politics.

He said the Republican Party "needs to recover its purpose to be as big as the country we serve."

"That is the purpose of our campaign and as I said, I have no intention of ever surrendering it."

McCain suffered more losses than even he had said in advance he could afford.

"Over the next few days we will take some time to enjoy our victories and take stock of our losses," he said.