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There was a curious American dimension to this week鈥檚 British elections, but it wasn鈥檛 Republican vs. Democrat. It was Democrat vs. Democrat. One former top aide to President Obama, Jim Messina, advised Prime Minister David Cameron and the Conservatives, while another top Obama aide, David Axelrod, advised Ed Miliband and the Labour Party. 聽

Mr. Messina, or rather, Prime Minister Cameron, won. It wasn鈥檛 even close, despite election-eve polling to the contrary. Messina was first out of the block with a gloaty tweet at about 1 a.m. Eastern US time: 鈥淭hings US&UK have in common: completely broken public polling & re-electing their strong leaders.鈥�

Mr. Axelrod conceded about eight hours later, also on Twitter: 鈥淐ongratulations to my friend on his role in the resounding Conservative victory in Britain.鈥�

This would all be so much water under London Bridge except for one thing: Messina is also working on behalf of Hillary Clinton, the leading Democratic contender for United States president in 2016. He鈥檚 co-chair of Priorities USA Action, the outside group that is raising big money to support her campaign. 聽

Some Democrats believe Messina鈥檚 work for the Tories is bad for the Democrats鈥� image. Last year, when Axelrod signed on with Labour, another Democratic strategist took the opportunity to slam Messina.

鈥淎xelrod is trying to balance out the brand damage with what Messina is doing,鈥� American pollster Stanley Greenberg, who also advises the British Labour Party, . 鈥淗e seemed to enjoy that Messina would find it uncomfortable that they were doing this.鈥�

Mr. Greenberg also said he thought Messina鈥檚 role with the Tories should 鈥渄isqualify鈥� him from working for Mrs. Clinton鈥檚 campaign. 聽

In Obama first鈥檚 term, Messina served as deputy chief of staff, and then managed Obama鈥檚 successful reelection campaign. There鈥檚 no word on how Obama or Clinton feels about Messina鈥檚 political 鈥渃ross-dressing,鈥� but in general, the White House declines to comment on the foreign clients taken on by former Obama aides. (Former Obama 鈥渂ody man鈥� Reggie Love also helped the Conservatives with field and social media efforts, according to Politico.)

Messina points out that the two main US political parties aren鈥檛 exactly analogous to Labour and the Conservatives. In Britain, for example, publicly funded health care is a given, and Conservatives pledge to maintain it, not defund or eliminate it, as US Republicans say of the Affordable Care Act.聽

And in Obama鈥檚 world, Cameron is no mere foreign leader. The two are good friends. Cameron boasts that Obama sometimes calls him 鈥渂ro,鈥� . At Nelson Mandela鈥檚 funeral in 2013, Cameron took part in and Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt.

Messina isn鈥檛 the first Obama adviser to work for Cameron. Obama鈥檚 former communications director Anita Dunn advised the Tories and Cameron in 2010 (and also faced criticism from fellow Democrats).

鈥淒espite the drastic differences between British and American elections 鈥� U.K. elections have no television advertising, the dominant medium in U.S. campaigns, along with an openly partisan press and far less fundraising 鈥� Americans have long worked on both sides of the British aisle,鈥� . 鈥淎 slew of advisers to President Bill Clinton worked for Prime Minister Tony Blair, often considered Clinton鈥檚 partner in liberal centrism.鈥�

Perhaps all the lionizing (and demonizing) of Messina is a bit overblown. Just as in the US, where top presidential strategists 鈥� like Karl Rove for President George W. Bush or James Carville for President Clinton 鈥� are considered geniuses for 鈥渄elivering victory鈥� to their bosses, it may be that the candidates themselves deserve most of the credit.

In the end, these well-paid strategists are at times mercenaries, selling their services to the highest bidders 鈥� including, increasingly, corporate clients.

And if you鈥檙e Cameron, fighting in what seemed to be a tight battle for his political life, you don鈥檛 take any chances. You go with a winner. Who cares about political affiliation?聽