It just goes from worse, to worser, to approaching pathetic for the McCain campaign:

July 10 (Bloomberg) -- John McCain's campaign manager, Terry Nelson, and chief strategist, John Weaver, resigned their posts as the Arizona senator's bid for the White House stumbles.

Nelson and Weaver gave no reason for their departure in statements e-mailed to reporters by the campaign. Rick Davis, the campaign's chief executive officer, will take Nelson's job and senior adviser Mark Salter will stay on without taking a paycheck, a senior McCain official said.

McCain, 70, has been firing staff and cutting the salaries of campaign advisers after failing to raise as much money as he expected in the first six months of this year and falling behind Republican rival Rudy Giuliani in national polls. Less than a year ago, McCain was the presumed frontrunner for the nomination.

McCain as the frontrunner was the media's creation. It was never in the cards as far as party regulars were concerned.