Half of Americans Support Legal Gay Marriage  —  Democrats and independents in favor; Republicans opposed  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Fifty percent of Americans believe same-sex marriages should be recognized by law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages — down slightly from 53% last year …

Maurice Sendak, Children's Author Who Upended Tradition, Dies at 83  —  Maurice Sendak, widely considered the most important children's book artist of the 20th century, who wrenched the picture book out of the safe, sanitized world of the nursery and plunged it into the dark …

Mitt Romney: 'I'll Take A Lot Of Credit' For Auto Industry Recovery … REACT:  —  FOLLOW:  —  Elections 2012, Mitt Romney, Auto Bailout , Auto Bailout , Barack Obama 2012 , Elections 2012, Barack Obama , Video, Politics News, Mitt Romney 2012, Mitt Romney Auto Bailout, Photo Galleries, Politics News

Gov. Christie's approval rate highest ever amongst N.J. residents  —  TRENTON — Fifty-six percent of New Jersey voters approve of Gov. Chris Christie, according to a Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll this morning.  —  That's Christie's highest ever rating in a Fairleigh Dickinson poll.

Liberals Steer Outside Money to Grass-Roots Organizing  —  After months on the sidelines, major liberal donors including the financier George Soros are preparing to inject up to $100 million into independent groups to aid Democrats' chances this fall.  But instead of going head to head …

Clinton addresses ‘au naturale’ moment  —  (CNN) - Hillary Clinton laughed off the perpetual conversation over her appearance that landed in the spotlight once again Monday when a picture of her sporting glasses sans make-up made the rounds on the internet.  —  “I feel so relieved …

Fox News contributor laments ‘mistake’ of letting women vote  —  Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, a Fox News contributor, tea party activist and personal friend of Sean Hannity's said in a sermon recently published to YouTube that America's greatest mistake was allowing women the right to vote …

Dick Lugar is going to lose.  Did he have to?  —  Indiana Republican Sen. Dick Lugar will almost certainly lose his bid for a seventh term Tuesday at the hands of state Treasurer Richard Mourdock.  —  FILE - In this April 24, 2012, file photo, Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind. speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington.

Cantor distances himself from super PACs  —  Super PAC?  What super PAC?  —  House Majority Leader Eric Cantor sought to distance himself Tuesday from the YG Action Fund, a super PAC run by two of his former top aides, another example of the discomfort elected lawmakers have with the big money groups.

Presidential Perks: Paying for Carter's postage, Bush's bills, and Clinton's rent  —  Spinners and Winners  —  You could call it welfare for former Presidents.  —  It's a little-noticed part of the federal budget: Each year U.S. taxpayers pick up the tab for the expenses of our former Presidents.

RNC official: Romney still deciding position on immigration reform  —  The Republican National Committee attempted to walk back a potentially bruising botched response Tuesday after an official said Mitt Romney is still making up his mind on immigration.  —  “As a candidate, to my understanding …

Santorum endorses Romney: ‘All hands on deck’  —  A reader forwards this email Rick Santorum is sending to his list of supporters in which he announces he's endorsing Mitt Romney.  —  Santorum makes clear that he felt Romney had answered questions about his commitment to principles …

Three-Way Race: Romney 44%, Obama 39%, Ron Paul 13%  —  Texas Congressman Ron Paul appears more interested in influencing the direction of the Republican Party than in running as an independent presidential candidate.  But perhaps Democrats should be careful what they wish for …

In surprise move, Netanyahu, Mofaz agree to form unity government, cancel early elections  —  PM, opposition leader reach dramatic late-night agreement to form national unity government, in which Kadima head Mofaz expected to be appointed deputy prime minister.  —  Get Haaretz on iPhone

Top Obama donors witholding money over executive order punt  —  Some leading gay and progressive donors are so angry over President Obama's refusal to sign an executive order barring same sex discrimination by federal contractors that they are refusing to give any more money to the pro-Obama super PAC …

Romney's Path Is Not Necessarily Narrow  —  Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post wrote last week that Mitt Romney's path to the presidency is awfully narrow, and that he has a ceiling of around 290 electoral votes.  Thus, “[w]hile Romney's team would absolutely take a 290-electoral-vote victory …

Bank of America Starts Mortgage Reduction Effort  —  Bank of America has started sending letters to thousands of homeowners in the United States, offering to forgive a portion of the principal balance on their mortgages by an average of $150,000 each.  —  The reduction for qualifying homeowners …

Biden: Before We Took Office, U.S. Was “The Problem” On Iran  —  Says within two years “my bet is Ahmadinejad is gone.”  Biden says America's stature in the world under the previous administration weakened sanctions on Iran.  —  Source: youtube.com  —  Vice President Joe Biden offered …

Sheik turned away by Fifth Avenue co-op board — because of too many kids: sources  —  He's got the dough and the pedigree — just too many damn kids for the co-op board at one of Manhattan's toniest buildings.  —  Sheik Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani — prime minister …

A Note to Readers  —  When we published Naomi Schaefer Riley's blog posting on Brainstorm last week ("The Most Persuasive Case for Eliminating Black Studies?  Just Read the Dissertations"), several thousand of you spoke out in outrage and disappointment that The Chronicle had published …

Stephens: To the Class of 2012  —  Attention graduates: Tone down your egos, shape up your minds.  —  Dear Class of 2012:  —  Allow me to be the first one not to congratulate you.  Through exertions that—let's be honest—were probably less than heroic, most of you have spent …