US commentators give their judgement on British Prime Minister David Cameron, following his meeting with President Obama.

Ben Feller says in Real Clear Politics that David Cameron was "notably defensive" when talking about BP but one subject took over the event:

"Cameron had hoped to use his first visit to the US since taking office 10 weeks ago to build his standing as a statesman and develop his relationship with President Barack Obama.



"Instead, the Lockerbie issue overshadowed a broader agenda that Obama and Cameron discussed in the Oval Office and over lunch Tuesday before addressing reporters."

Matt Browne speculates in Politico that the jokes between Obama and Cameron where nothing more than stagecraft:

"On closer inspection, the forced bonhomie between the two looks more like the declarations of love that elderly married couples give publicly to friends and family after a turbulent spell in their relationship. All [the] while they privately negotiate an amicable divorce... Tuesday's meeting between two old allies might give Obama a welcome respite from national politics. But, one cannot help but wonder whether a visit from a more progressive partner might not be more useful to him domestically. Could it be that Obama is missing Brown?"

Before the meeting Lloyd Grove at the Daily Beast suggested that the differences between Gordon Brown and David Cameron would be an advantage:

"The new prime minister, of course, is no Gordon Brown - a dour Scot with no gift for small talk. Cameron is young and charming, and on several previous meetings, he and Obama were very simpatico."

The comparisons continue with Julie Mason in the Washington Examiner looking at how David Cameron's relationship with the US matches up to that of Tony Blair:

"For his part, Cameron hopes to quiet the relentless drumbeat of criticism of BP from Washington, and show constituents that he can manage a relationship with the leader of the free world that improves on former Prime Minister Tony Blair's reputation as America's 'poodle.'



"Ahead of his visit, Cameron expressed concern about how the BP oil spill is hurting the company and pension funds invested in the now-troubled oil giant."

David Cameron is not Tony Blair, Helene Cooper at the New York Times agrees, but she thinks the jokes about beer and children's comparative tidiness may have repaired recent damage:

"It was not quite the Tony Blair-Bill Clinton love fest of 1997, but President Obama and the newly minted British prime minister, David Cameron, appeared game to do everything they could on Tuesday to take some of the recent chill out of the relationship between their countries."

Links in full



• Ben Feller | Real Clear Politics | Cameron rebuffs US

• Matt Browne | Politico | Where next for special relationship?

• Lloyd Grove | Daily Beast | America's New Frenemy

• Julie Mason | Washington Examiner | Bomber clouds Obama-Cameron meeting

• Helene Cooper | New York Times | What's Still Special in the U.S.-Britain Relationship