Here’s your weekly quick look at few developing stories in the political arena:

• The second of three presidential debates between President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney was held Wednesday night at Hofstra University in New York. Full video of the townhall format debate can be found here. The third and final debate will be Monday, October 22, 9 p.m. ET at Lynn University in Florida.

• Former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania, Arlen Specter, passed away on Sunday at his home in Philadelphia at the age of 82 after battling non-Hodgkins lymphoma. His funeral was Tuesday and was attended by many politicians including Vice President Joe Biden. Specter served in the Senate for 30 years before losing his re-election campaign in 2010, a time in which he crossed party lines to vote for President Obama’s stimulus package and then wound up changing political parties from Republican to Democrat. Specter switched parties twice but served most of his time as a Republican. He is survived by his wife, son, and three granddaughters and will be remembered as a political moderate. (HuffPo)

• Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday said “I take responsibility” for the deadly attack in Benghazi Libya on Sept. 11th that resulted in the death of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. Clinton’s comments come after criticism of Obama’s foreign policy from presidential challenger Mitt Romney and others. Clinton went on to say that President Obama and V.P. Joe Biden would not be responsible for specific security instructions for U.S. diplomatic facilities. (Reuters)

• Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate for president, was arrested with her running mate Cheri Honkala, near the site of the presidential debate on Tuesday. They were arrested for protesting rules barring her from participating in presidential debates. They will appear in court November 8 to face disorderly conduct charges. The non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates says a candidate must be polling around 15 percent in a combination of national polls to take part in a debate. Stein is polling currently around 2-3 percent nationally though the Green Party says, come Election Day, they will be on around 85 percent percent of national ballots. (CNN)

• And finally, a federal appeals court in New York state on Thursday became the second in the country to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act, the law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman, saying that it is unconstitutional. Nationally, the Supreme Court is expected to take up the case sometime next year and decide on the issue. (USA Today)