Rick Wilking/Reuters

Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan at the vice presidential debate Thursday in Danville, Kentucky.

With the presidential election quickly approaching, voters have a short amount of time to choose their candidate. Besides simply exercising patriotic duty, the number one reason to vote for a particular person for president, as MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell has stated numerous times on The Last Word, is the United States Supreme Court.

Vice President Joe Biden echoed that sentiment at Thursday's vice presidential debate, warning Americans of the fragility of abortion and reproductive rights laws on the books.

Martha Raddatz of ABC News asked Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan a heavy question about how their Catholic faith has played a role in their personal views on abortion. While Ryan answered the question by recounting a personal anecdote of how he and his wife dubbed their daughter, Liza, "Bean" because she looked like a bean at seven weeks on the ultrasound, the vice president explained how religion defines who he is and his views on abortion policy.

BIDEN: My religion defines who I am, and I've been a practicing Catholic my whole life. And has particularly informed my social doctrine. The Catholic social doctrine talks about taking care of those who — who can't take care of themselves, people who need help. With regard to - with regard to abortion, I accept my Church's position on abortion as a — what we call a (inaudible) doctrine. Life begins at conception in the church's judgment. I accept it in my personal life.

But I refuse to impose it on equally devout Christians and Muslims and Jews, and I just refuse to impose that on others, unlike my friend here, the congressman. I do not believe that we have a right to tell other people that - women they can't control their body. It's a decision between them and their doctor. In my view and the Supreme Court, I'm not going to interfere with that. With regard to the assault on the Catholic church, let me make it absolutely clear, no religious institution, Catholic or otherwise, including Catholic Social Services, Georgetown Hospital, Mercy Hospital, any hospital, none has to either refer contraception, none has to pay for contraception, none has to be a vehicle to get contraception in any insurance policy they provide. That is a fact.

That is a fact. Now with regard to the way in which the - we differ, my friend says that he — well I guess he accepts Governor Romney's position now, because in the past he has argued that there was — there's rape and forcible rape. He's argued that in the case of rape or incest, it was still — it would be a crime to engage in having an abortion. I just fundamentally disagree with my friend.

The Romney-Ryan campaign's sort of softened its position on abortion after Romney told The Des Moines Register he has no plans to pursue changing abortion-related legislation, if elected.

Following up, Raddatz asked whether those who believe abortion should be legal should be worried if Romney gets elected. Ryan replied, "We don’t think that unelected judges should make this decision,” indicating that elected officials, instead of the U.S. Supreme Court with its 1973 landmark decision in Roe v. Wade,  should settle the matter on the legality of abortion.

RADDATZ: I want to go back to the abortion question here. If the Romney-Ryan ticket is elected, should those who believe that abortion should remain legal be worried?

RYAN: We don't think that un-elected judges should make this decision; that people through their elected representatives in reaching a consensus in society through the democratic process should make this determination.

Biden quickly pointed out what the Supreme Court would look like under a Romney-Ryan administration, and went further to state that whoever wins the election will likely appoint two new Supreme Court judges and that the Roe V. Wade decision would no longer be stare decisis, or settled law.

BIDEN: The court — the next president will get one or two Supreme Court nominees. That's how close Roe v. Wade is. Just ask yourself, with Robert Bork being the chief adviser on the court for — for Mr. Romney, who do you think he's likely to appoint? Do you think he's likely to appoint someone like Scalia or someone else on the court far right that would outlaw (inaudible) - outlaw abortion? I suspect that would happen.

I guarantee you, that will not happen. We picked two people. We pick people who are open-minded. They've been good justices. So keep an eye on the Supreme Court...

RYAN: Was there a litmus test on them?

BIDEN: There was no litmus test. We picked people who had an open mind; did not come with an agenda.

If the country were to elect Mitt Romney as president, their administration would have the power to appoint members of the Court that decides the constitutionality of health care reform and as Joe Biden intimated last night, have the power to overturn Roe v. Wade.

Mitt Romney’s website clearly states if the the Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade, the "states will be empowered through the democratic process to determine their own abortion laws and not have them dictated by judicial mandate." As Ryan and Biden both articulated their abortion stances, this is further proof that the future of the Supreme Court alone is reason enough to vote on November 6.

Jewel Samad/Getty Images

Mitt Romney under the lights at a recent campaign rally in Apopka, Florida.

In a stump speech declaring victory at the first presidential debates, Mitt Romney switched up his campaign tone in front of Floridian supporters, even referencing the cult TV classic, "Friday Night Lights." (Coincidentally, we must note, on Friday night.)

The Republican nominee got personal, recounting the deaths of three supporters who influenced his campaign, one of whom was a 14-year-old boy diagnosed with leukemia. Romney said the boy, David Oparowski, referred to him as "Brother Romney" for counseling him with his will.

"I went to David's bedside and got a piece of legal paper, made it look very official. And then David proceeded to tell me what he wanted to give his friends. Talked about his fishing rod, and who would get that. He talked about his skateboard, who'd get that. And his rifle, that went to his brother. I've seen the character of a young man like David, who wasn't emotional or crying. He had his eyes wide open."

Romney went on to remember his conversation about death with the teenager and the eulogy he delivered at Oparowski's funeral.

"I sat down next to him and he said...he said what happens next? And I spoke with him about what I believe happens next. 'Clear eyes, full heart, can't lose.' David passed away, but I’ll always remember — never forget — his courage, his clear eyes, full heart. He won’t lose.”

That saying was popularized by the "Friday Night Lights" series, chanted before every game during all five seasons.

In a Daily Beast column posted on Monday, the of author Friday Night Lights, Buzz Bissinger, publicly endorsed Mitt Romney, allowing him to feature "Clear Eyes. Full heart. Can't Lose" as the official campaign slogan. Bissinger became convinced of Romney's presidential potential with his debate performance last week. He wrote, Romney "did not simply act like he wanted to be president. He wants to be president." Bissinger concluded his opinion piece with, "Romney has it. Our president no longer does." 

Romney certainly doesn't plan on wearing out the chant anytime soon. On Sunday, the Romney campaign wrote that as the subject of a fundraising email sent out by Ann Romney. 

CNBC host Jim Cramer tweeted earlier today that his father, a Pennsylvania resident, would not have been allowed to vote as a result of the new voter ID laws in Pennsylvania. 

Cramer's father would have been one of 750,000 registered votes in Pennsylvania who do not have photo identification cards from the Department of Transportation, taking away their voting rights on November 6. But thanks to his son, the new voter ID law will allegedly no longer prevent Mr. Cramer from voting. Pennsylvania's Department of Transportation saw Jim Cramer's tweet and promptly contacted him that that would make sure his father can vote. 

Seven hours later, the Mad Money host sent out a series of tweets addressing the issue.

Although Jim Cramer's father has been assured that he will be allowed to vote, what about the roughly 749,999 others who will have trouble voting under this law? It's expected to impact elderly voters and students the most.

All eyes are on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court this week as the hearing on the constitutionality of the state's voter ID law begins on Thursday.

The law is also being investigated by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division to determine whether Pennsylvania's voter ID law is discriminatory under the Voting Rights Act. With just 56 days to go until the election, voters in the state are scrambling to get the identification they need for November.  

Michael Kovac/Getty Images

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has a story she likes to tell - a ghost story. She recently told the Women's Political Committee that the ghosts of American suffragists visited her in the White House. A recent Youtube video (found after the jump) shows the House leader describing her first meeting with President Bush in the White House after becoming part of the Democratic House leadership.

The President began by "saying something to the effect of we’re so glad to welcome you here, congratulations and I know you’ll probably have some different things to say about what is going on--which is correct. But, as he was saying this, he was fading and this other thing was happening to me."

Pelosi continued, “My chair was getting crowded in... I swear this happened, never happened before, it never happened since. My chair was getting crowded in and I couldn’t figure out what it was. ...And then I realized Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Alice Paul, Sojourner Truth, you name it, they were all in that chair, they were. More than I named and I could hear them say: 'At last we have a seat at the table.' And then they were gone."

This is not been the first time Pelosi told the public her favorite anecdote; she's spoken of her spiritual encounters with the suffragists numerous times in speeches. And on June 6 of this year she told the tale during an event celebrating her 25 years of political service. The story has become a personal favorite when speaking at colleges, including at Trinity Washington University’s commencement on May 20, 2012 and at Goucher College's commencement in 2005.  

Scroll to the 5:50 mark to hear the beginning of Nancy Pelosi's story. 

Mitt Romney has been avoiding the mystery surrounding his 15 year (or potentially longer) tenure with Bain Capital, and has called the controversy's findings a diversion from the election's real issues. However, his answers, starting last Friday with TV networks, have proven to become further fodder for his unsteady stance on what voters consider as "the real issues." 

Romney told NBC's Peter Alexander that he had no involvement with the management of Bain Capital after February of 1999, and that he purposefully left the firm to run the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. Although public records have suggested otherwise, Romney has dug himself into a deeper hole by having his campaign explain away his signed documents. 

Today, Buzzfeed reportedly uncovered a screengrab from the Salt Lake Olympic's website, listing Romney as "the founder and CEO of Bain Capital" in his bio. They went even further to find a video from February of 2000, where he was introduced again as "the founder and CEO of Bain Capital" at the National Press Club. 

The Romney campaign will undoubtedly attempt to come up with more explanations for Romney's involvement with Bain, but there's no arguing with the Internet. 

It's no secret that Newt Gingrich is an animal lover. In an unforgettable exchange with Chris Matthews last month, Newt Gingrich revealed his favorite animal to watch at zoos are elephants. In a new interview with ABC News' Jonathan Karl, Speaker Newt Gingrich walked around the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. and explained his deep affinity for elephants.

"Elephants are among my favorites, partly because I'm Republican and partly because I'm big. Elephants make me feel like I'm the right size." He added, "They're very smart animals."

When asked what cabinet position he would lust after, Speaker Gingrich replied, "If they created a secretary of zoos, I would begin to get really excited. Kudos to our Graphics Extraordinaires, John Yuro and Joe McDonald, for creating a visual rendition of Newt's love for animals and zoos.

Republican candidate Mitt Romney held a roundtable discussion last Friday morning at an Iowa restaurant, and left the small cafe in shambles according to the owner. Dianne Bauer, proprietor of the Main Street Cafe, described her experience with the Romney campaign in an interview with a local FOX affiliate. 

Bauer never had the chance to meet the candidate who she closed her restaurant down for. After reporters overheard her complaints and included it in their articles, Mitt Romney called Bauer to explain "it was just a misunderstanding that she did not get to meet him." She says the whole experience left her wondering, "With how he treated me, is that how he's going to treat others? You know, if he gets in office is he going to be that way to us little people?"

Bauer would have had her question answered if she saw what happened at the end of that roundtable discussion. After thanking the other participants, Mitt Romney failed to identify a dessert that has a hole in the center. 

In the video clip, Romney says to the man to his left: "Would you see that one of those chocolate uhh ahm... chocolate goodies finds it way on our ride?" Yep...Mitt Romney didn't know what a chocolate DOUGHNUT looked like. 

Mitt Romney's constant failure with food politics started back in April when he was deemed the Cookie Monster. At a campaign event in Pennsylvania, Romney refused the cookies that were placed out for him. "I'm not sure about these cookies. They don't look like you made them. Did you make those cookies? You didn’t, did you? No. No. They came from the local 7-Eleven bakery or wherever.” 

We'll have the Washington Post's Jonathan Capehart on to discuss Romney's food issues.