WASHINGTON - A closely divided Supreme Court, with four justices in their 70s.

Presidential candidates with dramatically different views of the ideal high court nominee.

And yet, until late in Thursday's debate between Vice President Joe Biden and Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, hardly a word about the court had passed the candidates' lips.

That changed when the debate moderator posed a question about abortion.

When the presidential candidates debated a week earlier, the Supreme Court was not mentioned even once.

Neither President Barack Obama nor Republican challenger Mitt Romney talks about the court in campaign speeches.

Conservative and liberal interest groups have been pressing the candidates to talk more about the court, noting that just one retirement could move the court decidedly left or right.