This morning Sen. John McCain's campaign was dealt a serious blow as several of his top advisors resigned.

Last week rumors circulated that the McCain campaign cut nearly 50 staffers after releasing second quarter fundraising totals below par for the one-time frontrunner who has fallen to single digits in key early states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

The AP had this to say:

John McCain's campaign manager, chief strategist and other senior aides quit Tuesday, the second major staff shake-up in a week for the Republican presidential candidate who trails his rivals in money and polls.

Following campaign manager Terry Nelson and campaign strategist John Weaver out the door were political director Rob Jesmer and deputy campaign manager Reed Galen, officials said.

At the Capitol, McCain said he would "of course" remain in the presidential race, and disputed the idea that the staff changes marked a major shake-up that reflects his campaign's recent troubles.

The news adds to speculation that began last week over troubles within the campaign after the Arizona senator only brought in $11.2 million and had only $2 million in cash on hand.

The latest developments have pundits and bloggers predicting that McCain will be out of the race by September.

The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder put a summary together about what's going on inside the campaign, here's an excerpt:

Republicans close to Sen. John McCain said today that McCain was under "enormous pressure" by friends and advisers outside the campaign to fire campaign manager Terry Nelson because these advisers felt that Nelson was incapable of containing campaign spending and refused to run a more efficient campaign.

-- Brandon Leonard, intern, The Washington Times

UPDATE 1:45 p.m.:

Michelle Malkin again called for a "McCain '08 Deathwatch" after the release of top staffers this morning.

She added that some are encouraging him to resign as a Senator to focus wholeheartedly on his presidential run.

Malkin chimes in, "Yes, resign from the Senate, Sen. McCain. No objections here."

Over at Hotair.com, Allahpundit said, "Between this and McCain's growing isolation on Iraq, you’d better get your campaign death pool picks in as soon as possible."

Hugh Hewitt foresaw the coming problems back in May when he started a dead pool contest to see who could come closest to predicting the date Sen. John McCain officially drops out. The prize: an autographed copy of "A Mormon in the White House."

His prediction: "Because the McCain Campaign Dead Pool was my idea, I get to make the first selection. I'm choosing Friday, August 31, 2007."

-- BL