The Note: McCain Down But Not Out

Let’s hope Joe the Plumber doesn’t charge by the minute -- the 15th can be the roughest.

Maybe John McCain’s last great comeback isn’t possible. Maybe it’s only possible on the back of a plumber from Ohio (albeit one who could have used some vetting).

Maybe it’s only possible with a plumber plus an ACORN plus an apology plus an “SNL” appearance plus a whole bunch of nasty things still to be said about Barack Obama.

But as the race moves to a (bluer) map, the fact is that a McCain comeback is still possible, all the signs to the contrary notwithstanding. Outgunned on the air and the ground, in difficult (shrinking) terrain, there may yet be room for one final storyline that casts McCain like he remembers so fondly.

If he wins, he’ll be eking it out: “Top aides to Senator John McCain said Thursday that they were searching for a ‘narrow-victory scenario’ and would focus in the final weeks on a dwindling number of states, using mailings, telephone calls and television advertisements to try to tear away support from Senator Barack Obama,” Adam Nagourney and Jim Rutenberg write in The New York Times.