The trouble with cultivating the idea that you are good in adversity is that it only works if you have a convincing plan for extracting yourself from it.
It is starting to look as though presidential hopeful John McCain simply does not.
His supporters will remind you he has been on the ropes before and survived but as things stand he is losing this election.
A historian reminded me last week of the extent to which Harry Truman had been written off in 1948 before he overhauled Thomas Dewey in the closing days of campaigning.
But if John McCain wins it from here it seems to me that he should be compared to Lazarus not just Thomas Dewey.
With seven days to go before polling, the problems for Mr McCain remain pretty much as they have been all along.
He is the first Republican in many years to find himself outgunned financially and outmuscled on the ground. Barack Obama has raised more than $603m (£386m) and Mr McCain just over $380m (£244m).
