Not for nothing have political insiders taken to calling the GOP path to an Electoral College majority the equivalent of drawing to an inside straight.

FORBES: How To Rescue The Republicans From The Grave Karl Rove Is Digging For Them

The chancellor's explanation, which was endorsed yesterday by the IMF, is that in on taking office in 2010 he set out a clear and credible path to reduce the UK's unsustainably huge deficit - which was equivalent to 11% of GDP at the time of the last election and was still very high at 8.3% last year.

BBC: Government becomes banker to the private sector