This morning we awoke to the news that President Obama had been re-elected for a second term. It has been a close fought contest and his victory, though not so narrow as some imagined it might be, was hardly a landslide. Neither Obama nor Mitt Romney, his rival, are what we might call intellectual giants and in that respect there is scarcely a cigarette paper between them. However the Democrat philosophy and the Republican one are very different. With a growth rate of 2%, a modest achievement in more prosperous times, the American economy's performance is the envy of Great Britain and beyond the wildest dreams of many European countries. However America, in common with most of the civilised world, is recovering from the worst recession for eighty years. Too many Americans face the reality of unemployment and a daily struggle to put bread on the table. What is needed now more than anything is continuity, a fact clearly understood by many voting Americans. In a world which needs checks and balances, a Democrat in the White House is a useful corrective when there's a Tory in Downing Street. A change of incumbent in the White House and of policy would have been the worst thing that could possibly have happened. However in congratulating Mr Obama on his victory, Mr Romney made the good point that party political bickering should be set aside and they should work together for the common good. He was right and we hope that he is as good as his word. God bless America!