Slideshow: On the campaign trail

HENDERSON, NV-- Mitt Romney fired up supporters here today, telling them the presidential debates have "supercharged" his campaign and arguing that President Obama's strategy of attacking Romney rather than outlining a second term agenda is backfiring.

"My guess is you have the chance to watch that debate last night, maybe a couple of debates," Romney said, in his first public appearance since Monday's third and final presidential debate. "And these debates have supercharged our campaign, there's no question about it. We're seeing more and more enthusiasm, more and more support."

Emmanuel Dunand / AFP - Getty Images

Republican pesidential candidate Mitt Romney holds a campaign rally in Henderson, Nevada, October 23, 2012.

As both campaigns jockeyed today to claim victory in the final debate, Romney and running mate Paul Ryan both told a crowd of some 6,000 supporters at their first of two joint rallies of the day that momentum was on their side.

"I had to look at the president's campaign as well, through the eyes of those debates and well you know he's ah, he's been reduced to try to defend characters on Sesame Street and ah, word games of various kinds, and then misfired attacks after one another," Romney said. "You know the truth is that attacks on me are not an agenda."

"What we saw last night was Mitt Romney being concerned about America’s position in the world and President Obama more concerned about his position in this race,” Ryan said.

Earlier Tuesday, the Obama campaign pushed back on claims that the president lacks a second-term agenda, publishing a 20-page pamphlet that Obama himself brandished at a campaign event in Florida this morning. Romney campaign senior adviser Kevin Madden dismissed the pamphlet as a "glossy panic button," and Romney too brushed off Obama's plans as more of the same.

"His is a status-quo candidacy. His is a message of going forward with the same policies of the last four years. And that’s why his campaign is slipping and ours is gaining so much steam," Romney said.

With just 14 days to go before Election Day, the VP nominee helped fire up the base as well in the rally outside of Las Vegas.

“And in 2 weeks from today, he is going to become former President Barack Obama, and Mitt Romney is going to be the next president of the United States,” Ryan said.

The Obama campaign fired back after the rally, calling Romney "dour, defensive and dishonest," and insisting it was Romney who stumbled in last night's debate, and who "failed to present any specific plans for what he'd do as president."

The GOP ticket’s appearance in the Silver State comes on the same day NBC News updated it’s battleground map, using a combination of poll data and reporting from both campaigns to move Nevada into the “lean Dem” category. Despite its significant Mormon population and economic struggles, Romney advisers concede that Colorado is a more likely pickup than Nevada among the Western battlegrounds.

That leaves just 89 electoral votes in the “toss up” category. The seven remaining Toss-up states: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

See related: Risks and rewards of playing prevent defense

Romney and Ryan head to Colorado next, holing an evening rally with Kid Rock and country singer Rodney Atkins, as well New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, making only her second appearance on the trail with the Republican candidate.

GRAND JUNCTION, CO – Less than two weeks before Election Day, Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan will give his first major policy speech as GOP nominee Mitt Romney’s running mate.

On Wednesday, Ryan will deliver remarks on upward mobility and the economy at Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio, the campaign advised early Tuesday morning.

According to an aide, Ryan will lay out the vision and the policy reforms that Mitt Romney is offering in this election: “A protected space for civil society that is not threatened by government overreach, overspending and debt; a stronger safety net that helps those who are truly in need; a reformed education system that gives more choices to parents and more opportunities to children; and a robust and growing economy creating more jobs and better wages for all Americans.”

While the Wisconsin congressman, as of Monday, has held 100 campaign events since being named to the GOP ticket by Romney in early August, this campaign speech for Ryan will be different. Ryan did speak to the AARP conference in September, but this event tomorrow will only cover a specific topic.

The policy speech, during which Ryan “will make the case that Americans stuck in poverty cannot afford four more years like the last four and that Mitt Romney offers better a pathway for low-income Americans to improve their lives through opportunity and upward mobility than the failed policies of President Obama,” will be delivered in the key battleground state of Ohio.

A poll of Ohio voters released Friday by Fox News showed the race tightening in the battleground state, with Obama leading Romney 46 percent to 43 percent.

Ryan will join a roundtable discussion with community leaders in the Buckeye Speech before delivering his speech Wednesday, which will mark his 25th event in the state.

Many of the points the GOP VP candidate will outline during this address will resemble ones he typically talks about everyday on the campaign trail. But, expect this event in Cleveland to be more formal; Ryan is expected to read his remarks from a teleprompter.

“Ryan has been delivering variants of this message for years -- his Values Voters address had elements of this message -- and his desire to make this case is inspired by his mentor, Jack Kemp, who cared passionately about bringing the message of growth and prosperity to inner-city neighborhoods and building relationships between the Republican Party and advocates for the poor,” a campaign aide said.

The congressman is set to hold two joint events with Romney on Tuesday in Nevada and Colorado before heading back to the Midwest on Wednesday for this address.

DURANGO, Colo. -- In the midst of a three-day swing of Colorado, Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan had a special guest join him on the trail Monday: Speaker of the House John Boehner.

“You know, 22 years ago, I was running for congress for the first time,” Boehner said. “And you know, if they can’t say your name, they probably aren’t going to vote for you. Look at my name: Beaner. Bonner. Boner. I had no chance of winning, except I thought I could win. And during that campaign 22 years ago, I had a student at Miami of Ohio putting yard signs up for me named Paul Ryan. I’ve known Paul Ryan for a long time. You’re never going to find a more decent person on the face of the Earth.”

Taking the stage for the first time with the speaker on the campaign trail since being tapped as Mitt Romney’s running mate, Ryan said, “Hey, it's nice to see John ‘Boner’ here today, isn't it?”

Ryan continued in front of a roughly 1,500 person crowd at Fort Lewis College: “It's a true story, but I would put up yard signs as a young guy in college, I had no idea how to pronounce his name. But serving with him for 14 years, we kind of figured it out. John Boehner is a good man; he is a small business man who came to Congress to fight for jobs, and that's exactly what's he's doing."

The GOP vice-presidential nominee has been out campaigning in the Centennial State since Sunday evening and is holding three events in the battleground state today.

According to a CBS/NYT/Quinnipiac poll from the beginning of October, the race here was a tossup, with Romney holding the narrow edge 48 percent to 47 percent. And in the new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Sunday, President Obama and Romney are in a dead heat nationally -- both getting 47 percent of support among likely voters.

Early voting in the state started today with just 15 days until Election Day. Colorado has nine electoral votes up for grabs.

“We need your vote; we need your help. Early voting starts today so all I am simply saying is help us, we need your vote. Help us get this country back on the right track. We know who we are and we know what we believe and we can do this and get this done,” Ryan said speaking at a campaign rally outside of Vision Mechanical in Pueblo, CO, this morning.

Only continuing to show the importance of Colorado in the Nov 6^th election, both Romney and Ryan will hold a joint campaign rally here on Tuesday following the final presidential debate Monday evening. The GOP ticket will be joined in Morrison, CO, by Kid Rock and country singer Rodney Adkins plus New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez.

FORT PIERCE, Fla. -- Joining a chorus of Democratic mockery with puns aimed at GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, Vice President Joe Biden warned a Floridian crowd late Friday that "Romnesia" is a communicable disease that also appears to have been contracted by the Republican's running mate.

"The president has a new term for this sort of ability to change your mind so quickly: He calls it 'Romnesia,'" Biden said, echoing the president's new line from a Virginia appearance earlier today. "Boy, I tell you what, I hope y'all don't get Romnesia. It's a bad disease. It's a bad disease and it is contagious."

The crowd guffawed as Biden mock-explained how the illness has spread to Rep. Paul Ryan as well.

"All of sudden Paul Ryan the budget hawk- the guy that introduced a whole budget that already passed ... the House of Representatives," Biden explained. "All of sudden he doesn't remember it. He doesn't remember it. He doesn't remember what it does to the vital programs that mean so much to working people."

The punnery has been met with eye rolls from many Republicans even as Democrats insist the branding of Romney as an indecisive Don Draper will remind independent voters of their distrust for the former Massachusetts governor.

"The latest rhetoric from President Obama and Vice President Biden tells voters everything they need to know about their campaign," said Romney spokesman Ryan Williams. "While the president and vice president desperately resort to the kind of campaign they once denounced, Mitt Romney is focused on getting Americans back to work and delivering a real economic recovery."

While in Florida, Biden also introduced a new prop for his recently unveiled riff on Romney's position on women's rights.

"On Tuesday when Governor Romney was asked a direct question at the last debate whether or not women deserved equal pay for equal work, what was his answer?" he said, brandishing an actual folio. "Binders! he started talking about binders!"

BEREA, Ohio -- Making her first public appearance on the campaign trail with a member of the Romney-Ryan ticket, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spent part of Wednesday in the all-important battleground state of Ohio with Paul Ryan.

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Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Ohio Sen. Rob Portman speak to the Cleveland Browns Oct. 17 in Berea, Ohio.

“I’m here because I want, like you, to see this country prosper, to see this country continue to be a place of unlimited opportunity, to see this country lead the world toward prosperity and liberty and peace," Rice said. "And so I’m here to support Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in that quest."

The former President George W. Bush cabinet member spoke at the Republican National Convention in August this year on behalf of Mitt Romney and has also participated in fundraising efforts but this was a rare joint public appearance for her.

“What an example," Ryan said. "If you want to see the embodiment of the American idea, look no further than this leader off my right shoulder Condoleezza Rice." He added: "You know this is my second time following Condoleezza Rice…it's a little intimidating, tough act to follow.”

In Ryan’s fourth trip to Ohio in the past week, he praised Romney’s performance in last night’s presidential debate and criticized President Barack Obama for not offering new ideas.

“Cut through the clutter of all the attack ads and what did we see?" Ryan said. "We saw a president offering not a single new idea on how to turn things around. We saw a president not offer a single new idea or a lesson learned from the failures of the last four years. But what we saw in Governor Mitt Romney was a leader who has the solutions, who has the ideas on how to turn this economy around, how to get people back to work, and how to get America back on the right track, and that's what we're going to do on November the sixth right here in Ohio."

Ohio, which has begun early voting, remains a crucial battleground state that both Romney and Obama are spending a lot of resources on to try and capture the state’s 18 electoral votes.

Rice is an avid sports fan, and her favorite football team just happens to be from the Buckeye State -- the Cleveland Browns. Following the rally at Baldwin Wallace University that drew a crowd of roughly 1,200, Ryan and Rice, along with Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, stopped by a Browns practice.

“I came by to say hello to my favorite NFL team," Rice said at the training complex as the Browns got their first win of the regular season last weekend against the Cincinnati Bangles. "And I am really thrilled about last Sunday. And, you know, it starts one game at a time. So one game and then another game and then another game, and I’m just really looking forward to a great rest of the season."

Ryan, as the team knelt on one knee by the three special guests, briefly addressed the team, as well: “You know I went to Miami of Ohio so half my friends are from Cleveland, half my friends are from Cincinnati, and all my friends from Cincinnati are pretty ticked off today.”

But, the Wisconsin congressman then confused one quarterback of the Browns for another.

“My wife’s from Oklahoma, so we’ve been watching you," Ryan said addressing Colt McCoy, the famed TEXAS quarterback. "You were really fun to watch at OSU. You guys got a great young team."

Ryan's comment, though, was intended for Brandon Weeden, who was drafted this year as the starting quarterback.

Secretary Rice pointed over at Weeden and, with a laugh, Ryan continued: “Oh yeah, there you are. Sorry. You always had a helmet on.”

LYNCHBURG, VA -- Amid questions and criticisms related to Paul Ryan’s visit this weekend to an Ohio soup kitchen, the charity’s president said the Republican vice presidential candidate did, in fact, scrub dirty dishes though his visit wasn’t officially sanctioned.

The question of whether the Wisconsin congressman cleaned dishes that were actually dirty – as opposed to re-washing already clean dishes so as to get a good photo opportunity -- Mahoning County St. Vincent De Paul Society President Brian Antal clarified that Ryan did clean soiled dishes. This differs from what Antal had told The Washington Post Monday.

Speaking Tuesday morning with NBC News, Antal said he was not on-site when Ryan was at the soup kitchen and attributes his earlier comments that the dishes were clean when Ryan washed them to hearing the details second-hand from a volunteer.

Following a town hall meeting in Youngstown, OH on Saturday, Ryan -- joined by his wife and three kids -- made a quick stop at the St. Vincent De Paul Society shortly after the homeless people had breakfast. There were only volunteers left inside the building by the time Ryan arrived, as his public event ran longer than expected.

After arriving at the soup kitchen -- where Secret Service agents and staff had gathered before the motorcade arrived -- the Ryan family put on white aprons and proceeded to wash dishes for several minutes as cameras and still photographers snapped photos nearby.

In response to questions about Antal’s comments to the Washington Post that Ryan “did nothing” while at the soup kitchen, Antal said his words were mischaracterized. He told NBC News in that Ryan did very little work only compared to the larger context of Saturday morning, when the kitchen fed 180 homeless people breakfast. Antal conceded that Ryan did wash several dirty dishes.

The head of the charity said a campaign aide who had sought permission for the visit prior to Ryan's visit was granted access by a volunteer, rather than any person of authority at the soup kitchen. The volunteer, Antal said, had no authority to allow or deny the Republican vice presidential candidate's stop.

Ryan has made several quick stops that are unannounced to the general public in the past while campaigning across the country. In response to questions about the stop in the battleground state of Ohio that has raised questions in the media, campaign spokesman Michael Steel said: “It was a great opportunity to highlight the importance of volunteerism and local charities.”

Antal says he is speaking to the media because the organization is non-political and is concerned that being connected to the campaign could negatively impact their support.

The confusion, though, hasn't stopped Democrats from trying to turn Ryan's stop into a political issue.

The Washington Post posted an updated article online Tuesday morning noting: “The head of an Ohio charity who criticized Mitt Romney’s campaign for staging a 'photo-op' at one of the group’s soup kitchens has consistently voted in Democratic primaries.”

“A longtime aide to George W. Romney issued a harshly worded critique of Mitt Romney, accusing him of shifting political positions in “erratic and startling ways” and failing to live up to the distinguished record of his father, the former governor of Michigan,” the New York Times writes. “Walter De Vries, who worked for the senior Mr. Romney throughout the 1960s, wrote that Mitt Romney’s bid for the White House was ‘a far cry from the kind of campaign and conduct, as a public servant, I saw during the seven years I worked in George Romney’s campaigns and served him as governor.’”

“The head of a northeast Ohio charity says that the Romney campaign last week ‘ramrodded their way’ into the group’s Youngstown soup kitchen so that GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan could get his picture taken washing dishes in the dining hall,” the Washington Post writes. The head of the charity said: “The photo-op they did wasn’t even accurate. He did nothing. He just came in here to get his picture taken at the dining hall.”

The Post: “Photographers snapped photos and TV cameras shot footage of Ryan and his family washing pots and pans that did not appear to be dirty.” Said the head of the charity: “Had they asked for permission, it wouldn’t have been granted. … But I certainly wouldn’t have let him wash clean pans, and then take a picture.”

The New York Daily News: “A company owned by the GOP mega-donor Koch brothers is encouraging its employees to vote for Mitt Romney and other chosen candidates in November — warning that they will ‘suffer the consequences,’ like higher gas prices, if they vote the wrong way.”

WAUKESHA, WI – Paul Ryan played up his Badger State roots in suburban Milwaukee on Monday, hoping to add Wisconsin to the Republican column in a presidential election for the first time since 1984.

Speaking at a town hall with just 22 days before the election, the Republican vice presidential nominee encouraged the crowd to vote early, which voters can do beginning in a week, on Oct. 22.

“Let’s not forget, early voting starts pretty soon, so you can vote early, you can vote early absentee so that you can make sure we work on making phone calls and getting people to the polls because you know what we learned here in Wisconsin?” the seven-term Wisconsin congressman said before the roughly 1,300 people at the event. “We learned that if you’d say to people here’s who I am, this is what I believe in, and this is what I'm going to do, in Wisconsin we elect them and then they go do it and that’s exactly what we’re going to do for the United States of America we’re going to take on these challenges in this country.”

Wisconsin -- which is considered a battleground state by NBC News -- has 10 electoral votes to award in the upcoming election and both Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama’s campaigns are putting an emphasis here. The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll showed Obama leading Romney in the state, 50 percent to 45 percent.

”Let’s make sure that we win Wisconsin. Let’s get out to the polls. Let’s get people there. We are on a winning streak here in Wisconsin. Let’s keep that winning streak going,” Ryan, joined by both of his brothers sitting beside him, said at Carroll University.

Though Wisconsin is generally seen as more sympathetic to Democrats in presidential contests, Republicans have made significant inroads here in recent year thanks to Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, a native of the state, and Gov. Scott Walker, who survived a recall election after curbing public workers' collective bargaining rights.

While Walker joined Ryan here today, both Walker and Priebus appeared with Ryan at a fundraiser for former governor and current U.S. Senate candidate, Tommy Thompson, Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee.

“I think it is wonderful that Wisconsin has become the epicenter of politics – Republican politics -- we are on a role ladies and gentlemen. And these three champions back here are the current and the future leaders of the Republican Party,” Thompson -- who is running in a tight race with Democratic Rep. Tammy Baldwin --  said at the Harley Davidson Museum as he motioned towards Ryan, Walker, and Priebus.

Ryan's Wisconsin roots were on full display early Monday morning as he gave a shout out to his favorite football team during his ninth public event in the state.

“Nothing better than going to bed with 6 TDs under Aaron Rodgers’s belt, huh? That was an awesome game, I got to tell you to go down to Texas against a 5-0 team on the road and have that kind of performance it reminds me of what it's going to look like on November the 6th,” he said, noting the Packers tie he was wearing.

The VP nominee heads to Ohio, another crucial state, this afternoon where he will hold a rally in Cincinnati.