Confident of closer links with the White House, Tory right-wingers have surprising new crushes

"Seven of the best West Wing scenes on YouTube!" This past week the Tory blog of choice, ConservativeHome, directed its fans to Play political.com to indulge in the most rous-ing moments from NBC's political drama. No self-respecting Conservative would have friends round for dinner without proudly displaying at least three DVD box sets on the bookshelves. It's Tory porn.

There is huge excitement in the party about the US elections. Many Conservatives secretly consider America to be the only other power worth bothering about, and the present political circus is only fuelling that.

When he was Conservative party leader, Michael Howard fell out with the White House after criticising Tony Blair's handling of the Iraq War. Offending George Bush and his senior aides left the party's relationship with the United States in a delicate state. After that there was a long and rather frozen period. There has, however, been a thaw.

For years, the shadow defence secretary, Liam Fox, discreetly worked hard to maintain good cross-Atlantic links. Other shadow cabinet members with strong ties are George Osborne (who secured Senator John McCain's visit to the 2006 party conference) and William Hague, although frequent-flyer Liam should take most of the credit.

"The departure of Blair and his replacement by Brown has made an impact," says a strategist. "It's now easier for us. Part of the reason they were so cold with Howard was that they had such a good relationship with Blair. If they had little use for Howard before, after the ill-timed war comment he was totally sidelined."

Brown's relationship with the US is not considered as strong, so the Tories have been courting furiously. It's thought there is a view in Washington that a Cameron government could put the friendship back on a healthy footing.

It is difficult to generalise as to whom Con servative MPs and voters would support. Some of the most right-wing have been seduced by Barack Obama. Cameron himself seems rather smitten, commenting: "I must say, I think he's compel ling. I think we need the same sense of possibility here." The old-fashioned view that the right would always side with the Republicans no longer stands.

Although McCain would appear to be the natural choice for Conservatives, many Tory MPs are either "out" Democrats or at least considering it for the first time. A shadow minister sums it up: "I was going to say it was because I know so little about Romney and Huckabee, but that's not the reason. I'm bored by the Republican candidates and fascinated by the Hillary/Obama show. Who wouldn't be?"

The general feeling among Tory MPs is similar. "I'm uninspired by the Republicans," says one. "As a party we're drifting away from that style of politics and I'm uncomfortable with the heavy relig ious emphasis. I thoroughly supported [Rudolph] Giuli ani's zero-tolerance crackdown, but apart from that, I don't get it."

Boris Johnson has come out in support of Hillary. During the last election, Alan Duncan proudly wore a Democrat badge. Liam Fox is said to favour Giuliani. Another MP, Simon Burns, has just return ed from helping Mrs Clinton. He was described as being her "secret weapon". Ken nedy-ob ses sed* Burns should be pleased: never before has he been des crib ed as anyone's weapon. (He once put up a poster of John Kerry in the whips' office. Girl.)

ConservativeHome's Tim Montgomerie, who regularly attends US elections, says that the Conservative Party is now much closer to the Democrats. "On issues like the environment and gay rights, the Republicans are the same. It's us who have changed."

An (Obama-supporting) shadow minister is just impressed by the whole razzmatazz. "The glamour of it is enticing. Very rarely do you see a US big hitter shaking hands with 11 pensioners in a post office in Wyoming - it's 3,000 pumped-up disciples in a New Jersey stadium. Of course it looks brilliant."

At present, Cameron is not going out of his way to align with either side. He met George Bush in November, and there was a chance of a meeting with Obama, but it fell through. No rabble-rousing American guest is expected at this autumn's party conference. Last year, Arnold Schwarzenegger disappointingly cancelled a visit when Cameron's poll rating was down, choosing instead to give a speech via satellite - a decision he may have come to regret.

For those Conservative MPs finding it all too confusing, a helpful email is doing the rounds in the Commons: www.electoralcompass.com asks you 35 questions, then tells you where you stand politically and which candidate shares your views. One female Tory MP is relieved: "I knew I was an Obama girl . . ."

* The iconic American president, not the thirsty ginger Lib Dem

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