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Romney 'Binder' Comment Inspires Meme, Riles Women

Hofstra University junior Corinne Mestemacher poses with cardboard cut outs of President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney ahead of the presidential debate, Hempstead, New York, October 16, 2012.

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Kate Woodsome

October 17, 2012

WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney's efforts to court female voters may have backfired Tuesday when he said in his debate with President Barack Obama that he sifted through "binders full of women" to recruit female staff when he was the governor of Massachusetts.

The phrase quickly became a joke that went viral on the Internet, mocking the candidate and satirizing the very serious issue of gender politics in the United States.

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Controversies Threaten to Derail Obama Agenda

Just four months after his inauguration for a second four-year term, President Barack Obama finds himself on the defensive in three controversies that threaten to derail his political agenda. Obama may be on the verge of joining a long list of his predecessors who ran into severe political problems in their second terms in office. VOA national correspondent Jim Malone reports.