This morning Sen. John McCain's campaign was dealt a serious blow as three 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 early frontrunner that has fallen to single digit ratings among voters in key early states, such as Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

The AP had this to say:

WASHINGTON - John McCain's campaign manager and chief strategist are gone from their leadership roles, according to several officials with knowledge of the staff changes.

One official said Terry Nelson resigned as campaign manager for the Republican presidential candidate and John Weaver stepped down from his post of chief strategist on Tuesday. But other officials said Nelson was fired.

The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because the shake-up has not been made public.

Two officials said Rick Davis, a longtime aide to McCain, will take over the campaign.

This latest development only increases "doomsday" predictions among pundits and bloggers that say he will drop out of the race by September.

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