So we don’t even get the silver lining of a Romney boost out of today’s very dark cloud.

And when I say “very dark,” I mean very dark. Look who does second best among Fred voters.

Reallocating his supporters from most recent Post-ABC national poll to their second choices (same for California congressman Duncan Hunter who also recently ended his bid): McCain 30%, Huckabee 20%, Giuliani 18%, Romney 18%, Paul 5%.

The only consolation I have to offer you is that the nutroots, via their boosterism for John “Four Percent” Edwards, are even less relevant than we are.

Go read former Thompson employee Patrick Cox at PJM describe how Fred’s poor organization and late entry left him fatally weak on the ground as the campaign got rolling.

Update: Readers are telling me I’ve misread the WaPo analysis. It’s not that 30% of Fred’s voters are breaking towards McCain; it’s that if you reallocate Fred’s 7% of supporters proportionally among his second choices, McCain gains 2% and moves from 28% to 30% overall. Romney actually picks up 3% to move from 15% to 18%, so he’s the biggest beneficiary. By, er, a whole percentage point.