Politics

This weekend, a slew of newspapers in key swing states including Ohio are expected to release their endorsements for the presidency and other elected positions.

Such external validation is highly prized by candidates, but it's no longer entirely clear why.

Republican nominee Mitt Romney campaigned in Nevada on Wednesday.

Women's issues were back front and center in politics on Wednesday after Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock said in a debate Tuesday night that when a rape results in pregnancy "it is something that God intended to happen." Democrats pounced and Mitt Romney distanced himself from the remarks. But the Romney campaign did not ask Mourdock to pull down a TV ad Romney taped for him. Mourdock is in a tight race with Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly in an overall fierce contest for control of the U.S. Senate.

President Obama campaigned in Iowa, Colorado, Nevada and California on Wednesday.

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

It's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Audie Cornish.

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And I'm Melissa Block.

Most polls in the presidential race show the national popular vote to be a virtual tie. But as we know, the popular does not pick the president. That's the job of the Electoral College. And some election number crunchers are starting to explore the nightmare scenario of an Electoral College tie. It's a remote possibility, but a possibility nonetheless.

Rep. David Rivera, R-Fla., was charged Wednesday by Florida authorities with alleged ethics violations while he was in the state Legislature, perhaps imperiling his bid for re-election to the House in an already tight contest.