For both parties contesting the 2012 election, looking back on their own records is always a bit awkward when attempting to differentiate themselves, so they and their consultants are understandably drawn to the deficiencies of their opponents, especially when the servants are around.

But, really. It’s only May, and the delightfully quirky billionaires that have so proudly, post-Citizen’s United, purchased our political system are so desperate for something to convince dumber Americans to vote for Romney rather than the only slightly less hawkish, authoritarian, and rich-coddling Obama, that they’ve already resorted to calling him a dirty darkie.

Since finally effectively securing the Republican Party’s nomination Mitt Romney’s favorability rating have improved significantly, according to Gallup. Romney recently registered an all time best with 50 percent holding a favorable view of him and only 41 percent viewing him unfavorable. Only a few months ago his net favorable rating was a dismal -8.

Despite polls showing the Presidential race remarkably close, the American people strongly suspect that President Obama is going to win re-election. 56 percent think Obama will win this November, while just 36 percent think Mitt Romney will win, according to Gallup.

Mitt Romney now holds a three point national lead over President Obama according to the newest NYT/CBS News poll. The poll found that 46 percent of registered voters say they would choose Romney while just 43 percent say they would back Obama. This represents a small drop in support for Obama compared to last month when the same poll found the race perfectly tied at 46 percent each.

I expect that the professional anti-LGBTs will not like what head of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus, had to say about employment nondiscrimination and the LGBT community Sunday on Meet the Press.

Mitt Romney once again displayed his utter contempt for young voters. Reacting to the massive demonstration against Bank of America in Charlotte last week, Romney told WBTV that the protestors were simply too young to understand the economy or how banks work.

This was a week in which we got confirmation that Mitt Romney, the man who’s already shown himself to be mostly indifferent to suffering by the least of these, my brother, grew up as an intolerant bully, capable of harassing and physically assaulting humans he regarded as too meek. But never mind that; the folks at Liberty University oppose Mitt’s appearance, because his cult believes stuff their cult doesn’t, or vice versa.

Words supporting marriage equality are nice, and greatly appreciated. Growth from old positions is nice, and greatly appreciated.

But executive opinions don’t actually change anything. Executive orders, on the other hand . . .

I don’t know how much of a coincidence this is. But it is interesting to me that just about the same time as we learn the cruelty of Mitt Romney’s adult life was preceded by teenage cruelty, a video surfaces with Wisconsin governor Scott Walker explicitly promising a wealthy donor that he would use a “divide and conquer” strategy to break the state’s unions.

Even if it’s unsurprising at some level, it is still a bit stunning to see how not just cynicism, but brazen malice is such a large factor in our politics. Not even a small shred of pretense remains that the welfare of the public is the ultimate goal.

The fallout from JPMorgan Chase’s “Fail Whale” trade (I’m trying to coin this phrase, so help me out, will you?) continues. But there’s been a thread in one section of the liberal blogosphere that has confounded me. For some reason, writers are trying to position this as a problem for Mitt Romney.