John McCain: finished?

That's the impression one gets from HuffPost's picture of a dying campaign:

The McCain campaign's abrupt decision to lash out at Mitt Romney as a flip-flopper on abortion is a last ditch bid to revive a candidate whose poll numbers and financial resources are dwindling.

The McCain camp recognizes that its original strategy of establishing front-runner status and claiming the honored position of "next in line" is now in tatters -- leaving McCain with nothing but highly unpleasant choices.

I'd be surprised, except that during a speech to the summer research fellows at Ursinus today, Chris Bowers of MyDD (class of 1996) happened to mention that he saw Romney, Thompson, and Giuliani as the only candidates with a shot at the Republican nomination. Afterwards, when I asked him why he was counting McCain out, he argued that the McCain campaign's lean campaign funds ($2.5 in the bank after debts) would be insufficient to overcome the Republican base's natural hostility to the senator. (The "Lieberman of the Republican Party," as Bowers described him.) Given the polls, he's probably right.