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ARI SHAPIRO, BYLINE: I'm Ari Shapiro, traveling with the Romney campaign. And here's a summary of Romney's final sprint: a rally in New Hampshire, a flight to Iowa for another rally, a flight to Colorado, two rallies there with a long bus drive in between then back to Iowa for a few hours' sleep in Des Moines. And that was just yesterday. Romney means it when he says:

MITT ROMNEY: We've had some long days and some very short nights.

President Obama's supporters are trying to turn out voters in the battleground state of New Hampshire, even if it means using social pressure to do so.

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SARAH MCCAMMON, BYLINE: And I'm Sarah McCammon in Des Moines, where Republicans are fighting hard to get out the vote for Mitt Romney.

NATALIE LIEDMAN: Hi, Darlene. This is Natalie from the Republican Party. And I was just wondering if Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and the Republican ticket can count on your support in this November's election?

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Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church has a new pope. The selection and announcement was made today. It is a major event for the Copts, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt's 80 million population. Reporter Merrit Kennedy is in Cairo and she sent this report.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHANTING)

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Richard Burton was one of the most acclaimed actors of his time.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "RICHARD BURTON'S HAMLET")

RICHARD BURTON: (as Hamlet) Frailty they name is woman. A little month, or ere those shoes were old with which she followed my poor father's body. Like Niobe, all tears. Why she, even she...

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Among the areas hit hard by Superstorm Sandy were Manhattan neighborhoods like Greenwich Village and Chelsea, home to many of the city's art galleries, jazz clubs, dance venues and off-Broadway theaters. Jeff Lunden spoke with some of those making plans to get back to work now that power has returned.

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This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Rachel Martin. More than 40,000 people were supposed to run through the streets of New York City today in that city's famed marathon. But the race was canceled Friday in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg had all week insisted that the marathon would go on. But he eventually relented, saying the issue and the outcry had become too divisive. NPR's Mike Pesca joins me now to talk more about this. Hey, Mike.

MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: Hello.

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In August last year, as Hurricane Irene threatened the East Coast, New Jersey's governor issued an evacuation order for Atlantic City. And WEEKEND EDITION was introduced to one restaurant owner who wasn't having any of it.

JOHN EXADAKTILOS: Choppy seas, little wind, little hazy. This is a bull (bleep) storm. Nothing's going to happen.

Republicans are hoping to gain control of the U.S. Senate. The path toward victory had Indiana solidly on their side. That was, until Indiana's treasurer Richard Mourdock beat longtime Sen. Richard Lugar in the primary.

Then, during a debate on Oct. 23, Mourdock and his Democratic opponent, Congressman Joe Donnelly, were asked about abortion and contraception. Like Donnelly, Mourdock said he was against abortion.

In a country of dreamers and achievers, we seem surprisingly content in the middle.

The term "middle class" is at once useful for political purposes and practically useless as an economic descriptor. Without a consensus on an economic definition, nearly half of the country self-identifies as being in the middle class.

That gives politicians an opportunity to make far-reaching appeals to voters, speaking to Americans with incomes of $30,000 and $100,000 in the same breath.