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Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks with campaign staff on board his campaign plane at Washington Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Virginia, on Thursday, October 18.

President Barack Obama speaks during a rally at Veterans Memorial Park in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Thursday.

Jack Bunn, 51, and Jane Cookson, 57, cast their votes at the Board of Elections early voting station in Wilson, North Carolina, on Thursday.

President Barack Obama and Jon Stewart speak during a break in the live taping of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" on Thursday.

Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney attend a campaign rally in Chesapeake, Virginia, on Wednesday, October 17.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is seen backstage through a campaign flag as he waits to take the stage at a rally in Chesapeake, Virginia, on Wednesday.

Supporters of President Barack Obama listen to him speak during a rally at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, on Wednesday.

President Barack Obama arrives at Rickenbacker International Airport in Columbus, Ohio, for a campaign rally Wednesday.

A group of men watch the presidential debate on television screens at an electronics store in Miami on Tuesday, October 16.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney talks with aides aboard his campaign plane en route to Ronkonkoma, New York, on Tuesday.

A worker cleans a sign for the Commission on Presidential Debates before the second presidential debate in Hempstead, New York, on Tuesday.

Members of the production crew ready final preparations for the second presidential debate between President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney on Tuesday.

First lady Michelle Obama greets supporters during a campaign rally at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, on Monday, October 15.

Supporters of President Barack Obama cheer during the campaign rally at Ohio Wesleyan on Monday.

Obama jokes about a telephone with campaign volunteers Alexa Kissinger, left, and Suzanne Stern as he makes calls from a campaign office in Williamsburg, Virginia, on Sunday, October 14.

Dolls depicting Obama and Mitt Romney are on display at a gift shop at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Maryland on Sunday.

Romney holds up a baby as he works the rope line after delivering remarks at a rally in Lebanon, Ohio, on Saturday, October 13.

A supporter holds an American flag in front of the Ohio logo on his shirt as he stands with a crowd at Shawnee State University to hear Romney speak on Saturday.

Mario Orosa, left, and Ron Cathey, right, chat with Obama during dinner at Smith Commons restaurant in Washington on Friday, October 12. Obama had dinner with contest winners who contributed to his re-election campaign.

Romney, right, and GOP vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan greet supporters as they arrive at a rally in Lancaster, Ohio, on Friday.

Students walk past a political mural near Centre College in downtown Danville, Kentucky, where Vice President Joe Biden and Republican vice-presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan faced off Thursday, October 11.

Ryan greets his son Sam after the debate in Danville, Kentucky, on Thursday.

Romney, left, speaks with the Rev. Billy Graham during a visit to the Graham cabin in Montreat, North Carolina, on Thursday.

Obama greets supporters at a campaign rally at the University of Miami on Thursday.

Romney and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie talk with supporters at Buns Bakery and Restaurant in Delaware, Ohio, on Wednesday, October 10. Romney is campaigning in Ohio with less than a month to go before the general election.

Christie, left, and Romney walk up to the stage at Ariel Corporation in Mount Vernon, Ohio, on Wednesday.

Centre College students Ben Boone, left, a stand-in for U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, and Tommy Munoz, a stand-in for Republican Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan, wave during a rehearsal for the vice presidential debate in Danville, Kentucky, on Wednesday.

Members of the media watch as President Barack Obama arrives aboard Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday, October 9, in Washington. The president was returning from a two-day campaign trip to California and Ohio.

Obama addresses supporters during a campaign event at The Ohio State University on Tuesday.

Two Obama supporters, one holding a Big Bird book and the other clutching a picture of the president, listen while he speaks at a rally at Ohio State on Tuesday.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney departs a Wendy's restaurant with his dinner order in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, on Tuesday.

Supporters cheer as Romney delivers remarks on the James Koch Farm in Van Meter, Iowa, on Tuesday.

Allan Banojakedjian, left, and Jesus Romero fill out their voter registration forms at the Miami-Dade Elections Department on the final day of registration for the upcoming presidential election.

Rain doesn't keep Romney from campaigning in Newport News, Virginia, on Monday, October 8.

Obama holds a campaign event Monday at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.

Obama takes the stage at a campaign concert at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, October 7. The president has been on a three-day trip to California and Ohio.

Air Force One leaves a shadow as it passes over the Forum on approach to Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday.

Obama leaves the White House on Sunday to board Air Force One.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, greet workers at the Tin Fish restaurant following a rally Sunday in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

Romney casts a shadow on a banner as he speaks during a campaign event in Apopka, Florida, on Saturday, October 6.

A supporter holds a photograph of Romney in Apopka on Saturday.

Jon Bon Jovi performs at an Obama for America event at the House of Blues in Las Vegas on Saturday. It was the last day people in Nevada could register to vote in the upcoming presidential election.

Romney speaks during a campaign event in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Friday, October 5.

Romney supporters listen during Friday's campaign event in St. Petersburg.

Obama smiles as he speaks during a campaign rally in Fairfax, Virginia on Friday.

Obama is assisted with putting on a raincoat onstage during a campaign rally at Cleveland State University on Friday.

Romney speaks in Fishersville, Virginia, as Secret Service members keep guard on Thursday, October 4. A day after the first presidential debate in Denver, Romney headed to Virginia to continue campaigning.

Romney supporters bow their heads in prayer during Thursday's event at the Augusta Expoland in Fishersville, Viriginia.

Obama addresses the crowd at the University of Wisconsin in Madison on Thursday.

Romney greets police officers before boarding his campaign plane in Denver on Thursday.

Obama speaks at a campaign rally in Denver on Thursday. He accused his Republican challenger of dishonesty over tax policy and other issues brought up in Wednesday night's presidential debate.

Audience members cheer as Obama makes his way onto the stage at Sloan's Lake Park in Denver on Thursday.

Reporters watch the final minutes of the debate between Romney and Obama in Denver on Wednesday, October 3. The first of four debates for the 2012 election -- three presidential and one vice-presidential -- was moderated by Jim Lehrer of PBS.

A member of the U.S. Secret Service keeps watch from the top of a building as Obama takes part in a debate walk-through at the University of Denver on Wednesday.

A seat is assigned to first lady Michelle Obama prior to Wednesday's debate.

Obama stands at the podium as he speaks during the debate on Wednesday.

Michelle and Barack Obama, left, join Mitt Romney and his family at the conclusion of the first presidential debate.

University of Denver student Sam Garry sits at the moderator's desk before a presidential debate dress rehearsal at the University of Denver on Tuesday, October 2.

Volunteers sit in for on-air television reporters on Tuesday in preparation for the first presidential debate in the Ritchie Center at the University of Denver.

Romney greets a father and his daughter after having lunch Tuesday at a restaurant in Denver.

Obama stares at the Hoover Dam in Nevada during a visit Tuesday.

Romney boards his campaign plane in Bedford, Massachusetts, on Monday, October 1. The Republican candidate was heading to Denver for the first presidential debate on Wednesday.

Obama hugs Chasstiry Vazquez after she indroduced him at a campaign event at Desert Pines High School in Las Vegas on Sunday, September 30.

Obama supporters cheer during Sunday's event in Las Vegas.

Romney leaves his campaign headquarters in Boston on Sunday.

A boy reaches out to shake hands with Obama on Sunday in Las Vegas. The president was in Nevada ahead of Wednesday's presidential debate in Denver.

Romney arrives at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Belmont to attend Sunday services.

Obama talks on the phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel in the Oval Office on Friday, September 28.

Romney speaks during a rally at Valley Forge Military Academy and College in Pennsylvania on Friday.

Romney talks to journalists aboard his campaign plane about his phone call with Netanyahu on Friday.

Cadets listen to Romney speak at a campaign rally Friday at the Valley Forge Military Academy and College in Wayne, Pennsylvania.

Romney addresses Friday's rally at the Valley Forge Military Academy and College.

Vice President Joe Biden hugs U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, as he arrives for a campaign event Friday in Boca Raton, Florida.

Romney speaks at a Veterans for Romney campaign event in Springfield, Virginia, on Thursday, September 27.

Obama supporters cheer at a campaign rally Thursday in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Veterans at the American Legion Post 176 pray before Romney speaks Thursday in Springfield.

People listen to Obama speak at the Farm Bureau Live arena in Virginia Beach on Thursday.

Obama delivers remarks Thursday in Virginia Beach.

Supporters cheer as Romney speaks at SeaGate Convention Centre in Toledo, Ohio, on Wednesday, September 26.

Romney speaks during a roundtable discussion on manufacturing at American Spring Wire in Bedford Heights, Ohio, on Wednesday.

Supporters wait to see Obama on Wednesday at Toledo Express Airport in Bowling Green, Ohio. Air For One aborted an initial landing attempt in Ohio due to weather conditions.

Obama addresses supporters at Bowling Green State University on Wednesday.

Romney delivers remarks during a campaign rally Wednesday at Westerville South High School in Westerville, Ohio.

Former President Bill Clinton introduces Obama during the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting in New York on Tuesday, September 25.

Supporters cheer during a Republican campaign rally Tuesday with Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, at Dayton International Airport in Vandalia, Ohio.

Ryan speaks Tuesday in Vandalia as Sen. Rand Paul, from left, Sen. Rob Portman and Romney listen.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush hugs a waitress as they wait for Ryan's arrival during a campaign stop at a restaurant in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood on Saturday, September 22.

Supporters cheer as they listen to Romney speak during a Juntos Con Romney Rally at the Darwin Fuchs Pavilion on Wednesday, September 19, in Miami.

Romney shakes hands with supporters during the Juntos Con Romney Rally in Miami on Wednesday.

Obama and David Letterman speak during a break in the taping of the "Late Show with David Letterman" on Tuesday, September 18, at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York.

A crew member opens the door to Air Force One after the jet arrived at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York on Tuesday.

From left to right: Romney, his wife Ann, and son Tagg watch one of Tagg's sons play soccer in Belmont, Massachusetts, on Saturday, September 15.

Ryan arrives onstage to address the Family Research Council Action Values Voter Summit on Friday, September 14.

Supporters wait for Romney to speak at a campaign rally at Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio, on Friday, September 14.

Obama arrives at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Thursday, September 13. Obama returned to Washington after a two-day campaign trip with events in Nevada and Colorado.

Supporters cheer as Romney speaks at a campaign rally in Fairfax, Virginia, on Thursday.

An Obama supporter attends a rally in Las Vegas on Wednesday, September 12. Obama focused on economic policies during his two days of campaigning in Nevada and Colorado.

Former President Bill Clinton speaks in support of Obama during a campaign stop in Miami on Tuesday, September 11.

Obama is lifted up by Scott Van Duzer, owner of Big Apple Pizza and Pasta Italian Restaurant, during a visit to the restaurant in Fort Pierce, Florida, on Sunday, September 9. Obama was on a two-day bus tour across the state.

President Obama greets supporters during a campaign stop at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday.

Mitt Romney walks through the garage area during a rain delay before the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday, September 8, in Richmond, Virginia.

Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, waves to the crowd before speaking at a rally in Leesburg, Virginia, on Friday, September 7.

Supporters try to stay dry in between rain showers while waiting for President Obama to speak at the University of Iowa on Friday. It was Obama's first day of campaigning after accepting the presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

A girl listens to President Obama speak at the University of Iowa on Friday.

Vice President Joe Biden, first lady Michelle Obama, President Obama and Biden's wife, Jill, wave after Friday's campaign event at the University of Iowa.

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Washington (CNN) -- Mitt Romney is in a bind over binders.

The Republican presidential nominee is being challenged about the details of hiring women for top government positions when he won election as governor of Massachusetts in 2002, giving a possible late boost to efforts by President Barack Obama's campaign to strengthen its support among female voters.

Less than three weeks before Election Day, the battle for the women's vote -- a demographic Obama won easily in 2008 and needs again this year to secure re-election -- appeared to be tightening.

Then comments by Romney in Tuesday's second of three presidential debates raised questions about what actually happened when he was governor and provided an opening for Obama's team to challenge whether he understands the role of women in the workplace and the economy.

Did Romney lose ground with women?

"I had the chance to pull together a cabinet and all the applicants seemed to be men," Romney said at the debate in answer to a question about equal pay for women. "And I went to my staff, and I said, 'How come all the people for these jobs are all men?' They said, 'Well, these are the people that have the qualifications.' And I said, 'Well, gosh, can't we find some women that are also qualified?'"

That led to a "concerted effort to go out and find women who had backgrounds that could be qualified to become members" of his cabinet, he continued, saying: "I went to a number of women's groups and said, 'Can you help us find folks?' And they brought us whole binders full of women."

Romney added that a university study later concluded that Massachusetts under his leadership "had more women in senior leadership positions than any other state in America."

The "binders full of women" reference prompted a huge response on social media, becoming the third-fastest rising Google search during the debate and getting a Twitter hashtag, a series of memes on Tumblr and a Facebook page with more than 8,000 members by Thursday morning.

The debate over 'binders full of women'

Crowley: 'Binders' line didn't strike me

Healey: Dems distracting from issues

"Binders full of women" instant web meme

With the attention came attempts by Obama and other Democrats to gain political advantage.

"We don't have to order up some binders to find qualified, talented, driven young women who can learn and excel," Obama told a campaign event Thursday in New Hampshire. He quickly pivoted to the first bill he signed into law -- the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act -- by saying he wanted new women graduates "to receive equal pay for equal work."

On Wednesday, Vice President Joe Biden characterized Romney's perspective on women as a "1950s time warp" in keeping with the Obama campaign's efforts to focus the debate on women's issues to topics involving personal choice, such as abortion and contraceptives, as well as equal opportunity.

At a campaign stop on Thursday in Nevada, Biden repeated his warning that a Romney presidency was certain to bring more conservative Supreme Court justices who would overturn the Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion.

A USA Today/Gallup poll of registered voters in 12 swing states found that more women considered abortion the most important election issue over jobs and the economy.

Romney's team frames its pitch to women voters as an economic choice, arguing that high unemployment and sluggish growth under Obama particularly hurt women and families.

"This president has failed America's women," Romney told a campaign event Wednesday in Virginia. "As I go across the country and ask women what can I do to help, what they speak about day in and day out is help me find a good job, or a good job for my spouse. And help my kid, make sure my children have a bright future, better schools and better job opportunities. That's what the women of America are concerned about and the answers are coming from us and not from Barack Obama."

Asked Thursday about boosting jobs for women, Romney's running mate -- conservative House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin -- launched a lengthy response with a succinct summation: "Get the economy growing."

Obama "took his eye off the ball of growing the economy, and as a result, the poverty rate among women is at a 17-year high," Ryan told a campaign event in Florida. "Over 5 million women have just left the work force. Fewer women are working today than when he took office. And so of the people who have been hit the hardest, it's women."

Hillary Clinton says no to another run

Meanwhile, disputes arose about Romney's account of what he did in Massachusetts.

Jesse Mermell, a Democratic local official in Brookline, Massachusetts, who was executive director of the Massachusetts Women's Political Caucus from 2004 to 2008, took exception to Romney's statement that he initiated the search for qualified women for his cabinet.

A program her group oversaw provided Romney's transition team in 2002 with resumes of qualified women, Mermell told a conference call with reporters Wednesday.

"Mitt Romney did not request those," Mermell said, explaining that the program called MassGAP approached Romney and his Democratic opponent before the election to get their commitment for hiring women to state positions in proportion to the female population. "Then after the election, our group approached the Romney transition team with the resumes, or the so-called binders full of women."

She also cited a study that showed Romney initially hired 14 women among 33 appointments to his cabinet -- 42% of the total -- but by the end of his four-year term, the number of women in his administration was 25%, lower than the previous or subsequent governors.

"At the time Romney paid lip service to the public about hiring more women in senior positions, and treated it like a quota," Mermell said. "But like with so many other things that are Mitt Romney, the facts did not match the rhetoric."

Mermell and Ledbetter, the woman for whom the equal pay legislation was named, told reporters that Ryan voted against the measure and Romney also opposes it. Romney has yet to clearly state his position on the law that strengthens the ability of women to sue employers over unequal pay.

David S. Bernstein, a staff writer for the Phoenix in Boston, told CNN on Wednesday that Romney also had issues involving judicial appointees, noting 17 of the first 19 judges he appointed were men.

"After some unfavorable press about that, he began appointing more women," Bernstein said.

By comparison, the Obama White House had women holding just under 40% of jobs paying $75,000 or more in 2011. Obama also chose women for his two Supreme Court justice appointments -- Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan -- and made the fair pay act named for Ledbetter his administration's first new law.

Ledbetter said the law bearing her name "has caused a lot of employers, a lot of large employers, to look at their procedures and their process, and to look at all employees and their staffers to see if everybody's being treated equitably and fairly."

Republican surrogates for Romney sought to play down the magnitude of the flap over his debate comments.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell told CNN on Thursday that the "binders full of women" response was good for "a laugh or two," but wasn't the main issue of what he called "a serious campaign."

"Despite all the rhetoric and all the attempts of the Obama administration to separate men from women over social issues -- largely contrived, I think -- what men and women care about in this election is the economy, getting us back to work and getting us out of debt," McDonnell said. "Mitt Romney's point was that he actually affirmatively went out to make sure that he had great, competent, qualified women in his cabinet."

Citing a Gallup poll that showed Romney catching up with Obama among women voters in an aberration from other polling so far, McDonnell said: "I'm glad the Obama administration is having fun with it, but the point is that this race is now clearly going in the way of Mitt Romney because he's a serious candidate."

CNN's Shawna Shepherd, Rachel Streitfeld, Dana Davidsen and Shannon Travis contributed to this report.