Former Obama Campaign Manager Jim Messina Led Austerity-Loving Tories to Victory

[Jim Lane]

35. My reasoning was that he said "points" not "seats"

Another fact that cuts against your interpretation is that after saying "20 points" he then discussed the Parliamentary seats as a separate topic. From the linked article:

"All elections are always about the future, especially an economic future," Messina continued. "We won that choice by over 20 points last night and that's why we stunned the world. And it looks like he'll have an absolute majority, which I don't think many people thought we'd have." {emphasis added}

Even if you think that it was never in the cards for UKIP and the Lib Dems to be part of the same coalition, they can both be considered to the right of Labour. For example, with regard to the NHS, the Lib Dems were part of the Cameron coalition that instituted some partial privatization measures, and UKIP would apparently be on board with even more: "Leaked documents show Ukip leaders approve NHS privatisation once it becomes more 'acceptable to the electorate'". It wouldn't be surprising for Messina, as an American, to be focused on economic issues where the U.S., even under Obama, is well to the right of what any significant British party dares to advocate publicly. (The flip side, of course, is that very few Democrats, and certainly not including Obama, would dare to advocate publicly for an NHS-style system here.)