Whoever is the next US president it'll be good news for Cameron

By Tim Montgomerie
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On the margins of the Olympics David Cameron has talked to US television about the up-and-coming presidential election. The British PM diplomatically declined to back Obama or Romney but his words about the current resident of the White House seemed margnally more positive. He described the Republican nominee, who he met last week, as “a very capable man.” On Obama, Cameron said “I admire him a huge amount and I enjoy working with him.” The Prime Minister continued:

“I will work with whoever the American people elect as your president, and I will be straight in there wanting to work with you because we’ve got so many things we need to do together.”

I'd argue that Cameron wins either way this November. If Obama wins, Cameron not only benefits from the continuation of a clearly healthy relationship but the mood music is an incumbent bucking the trend and getting re-elected despite difficult economic circumstances. On the other hand if Romney triumphs the world's most important economy is in the hands of someone who shares the Conservative leader's view of deficit reduction, free trade and labour market flexibility.

Intrade currently give Obama a 57.6% chance of being re-elected.