This article is from the archive of our partner .
Is the time right for Newt Gingrich or Rick Santorum to get out of the Republican primary? Mitt Romney says yes, that only God is powerful enough to change the tide of math that makes his delegate count nearly insurmountable. But it seems like a bad idea to take the word of the candidates' competition. Instead, maybe it's better to see whether recent media coverage indicates the end is nigh. Just like in Revelations, there are telltale signs the jig is up just before your political world ends. We looked back at the media coverage of the last three weeks of several doomed campaigns and found Three Signs of Campaign End Times.
Scouring Lexis Nexis archives for The New York Times and The Washington Post for the last three weeks of seven candidates' campaigns -- Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Tim Pawlenty, Herman Cain, and Jon Huntsman in 2012, and John Edwards and Mitt Romney in 2008 -- we uncovered a pattern emerging in the final days of their campaigns:
Narrowing focus to one make-or-break vote.
- "Pawlenty Courts Evangelicals in Make-or-Break Moment" -- The New York Times, August 9, 2011
- "Pawlenty recognizes this week's tests in Iowa are critical - unless, of course, they're not" -- The Washington Post, August 9, 2011
- "In N.H., it's now or never for Huntsman" -- The Washington Post, January 9, 2012
- "Bachmann Looks to an Election Night 'Miracle'" -- The New York Times, January 3, 2012
- "Edwards Will Face a Moment of Truth After South Carolina Primary" -- The Washington Post, January 12, 2008
- "McCain's Victory in a Party-Only Primary Raises the Hurdles for Romney" -- The New York Times, January 30, 2008