Female voters have become an important presidential campaign focus in the final weeks, with some polls suggesting Republican challenger Mitt Romney has narrowed President Obama's advantage among them. That has helped push the GOP nominee to the lead in some surveys. In their second debate, TV ads and at campaign stops, both candidates spoke last week about women's health care, job opportunities and pay equity.

As some polls indicate that Romney is gaining support among women, the two rivals clashed repeatedly on a Long Island, N.Y., debate stage over who would best serve the interests of the country's largest and most critical constituency. Obama said the man who wants his job would eliminate financing for women’s health services, oppose equal pay and undermine the economic recovery for families that depend on working women. Romney defended his policies as better for women and insisted that he worked for inclusion and equality as Massachusetts governor. "There are three and a half million more women living in poverty today than when the president took office," the Republican said.

A rambling description during the debate of Romney's efforts to hire women into his administration as governor became an instant Internet sensation when he said he had "whole binders full of women" that he considered for leadership jobs. That generated an avalanche of Twitter sarcasm and a mocking Tumblr page. Campaigning in Iowa, Obama joined the ridicule while speaking about math and science education. "We don’t have to collect a bunch of binders to find qualified, talented, driven young women, ready to learn and teach in these fields right now,” he said.

Romney says: "This is a presidency that has not helped America's women. . . . The answers are coming from us and not from Barack Obama." -- Campaigning last week

Obama says: "One of the things that makes us grow as an economy is when everybody participates and women are getting the same fair deal as men are." – Campaigning last week

Columnist says: "It was a little weird that the two men vied for female favor by interrupting and barking at one another like a Worst Boyfriend." – Gail Collins, New York Times