Barack Obama will quickly learn more about Bermuda business's value to the US economy, should he become US President, according to Premier Ewart Brown, writes Jonathan Kent.

Sen. Obama, the Democratic Party candidate for the US presidential elections to be held in November, has raised concern in some circles in Bermuda with his campaign promise to "close down the tax havens".

In the Stop Tax Havens Abuse Act legislation, co-sponsored by Sen. Obama, Bermuda is named.

Meanwhile, Republican candidate John McCain said on a visit to Bermuda last year: "The industry, the reinsurance that's had such phenomenal success, has been good for both nations. I would oppose any measures that would upset that."

After the Premier declined to state a preference between the two candidates on who would be best for Bermuda, it was put to him that despite the distinction between the way the pair perceived the Island, the Premier was "sitting on the fence".

"I'm not sitting on the fence, I'm sitting in Bermuda, looking at the political landscape in the United States," the Premier replied.

"Sen. McCain knows a little more, I believe, about Bermuda than does Sen. Obama. All of us in politics learn more about situations sometimes after we've been elected.

"That is why, when we get more experienced in this work, we try to leave ourselves some room for post-election manoeuvring. And I believe that if Sen. Obama becomes President Obama, he will have a heightened appreciation for the role that Bermuda plays in the economy of the US through these companies."

The Bermuda insurance sector paid out billions of dollars in claims to US policyholders after disasters such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 and the devastating hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005.