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Besides his influence on generations of children and adults, author Maurice Sendak was also a personal mentor to a number of writers. Sendak, who died Tuesday at age 83, told NPR in 2005 that he felt it was his duty to pass on everything he'd learned.

"This big gorilla head that's stuffed full of experience — I want to give it away before I'm gone," he said. "I want to give it away to young artists who are as vehement and passionate about their lives and work as I was and am."

Now that former candidates Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are endorsing Mitt Romney to be the Republican nominee for president, the GOP is working to get the rank and file to fall in line.

That's especially important in swing states like Florida. But in the primary, Romney struggled in the Panhandle of the Sunshine State — a bastion of conservative voters. And it might take more convincing for them to really get behind the former Massachusetts governor.

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MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

Now, to politics here in the U.S. Today, Indiana voters are deciding the fate of long time Senator Dick Lugar in a Republican primary. Wisconsin is choosing a Democratic opponent to run against Republican Governor Scott Walker. And North Carolina is considering whether to add a ban on gay marriage to the state constitution.

Joining us to review the prospect for today's votes is NPR's senior Washington editor, Ron Elving. Hey, Ron.

RON ELVING, BYLINE: Good to be with you, Melissa.

Republican Mitt Romney badly trails President Obama among Hispanic voters, according to several recent polls.

The stakes are high in the U.S. Supreme Court's consideration of the 2010 health law, as countless commentators have observed. In some circles, however, the gambling metaphor has been pushed to its logical conclusion.

Last month, the Taliban carried out their largest coordinated attack across Afghanistan, including three sites inside the capital Kabul. It took an 18-hour gunfight to end the assault.

But even as they took cover, Kabul residents saw something new: their own soldiers taking the lead, with limited help from NATO. Television footage showed Afghan soldiers moving confidently into the building where the militants were holed up, avoiding reckless gunfire that might have endangered civilians in the crowded city.

Royal Thunder is at a crucial point in its young career. The Atlanta hard-rock band's 2009 EP was like the hard-hitting rookie batter who causes serious chatter; a heavy, '70s-style riff machine with pipes that could tear through walls. But fast-burning flames burn the fastest, setting up crazy expectations and jinxing long-term prospects.

As if further proof were needed that the Republican primaries are essentially dead and buried, here's another piece of firm evidence: Mitt Romney praised former President Bill Clinton in a speech in Michigan Tuesday, and not once but twice.