With the US midterm elections only a few days away I’ve taken flight from grey and damp Britain for the campaign trail in sunny south Florida with the intention of learning more about how the Democrats campaign on the ground.

I am working in the area stretching along Florida’s southeast coast from Fort Lauderdale northwards where the incumbent Democratic congressman Ron Klein is facing a huge challenge from former army colonel and Tea Party favourite, Allen West.

Even in the good times, Florida is a swing state. A mobile and culturally mixed population with large disparities in wealth makes this a tough place to campaign. In District 22 the traditional split is 37 per cent Democrat, 37 per cent Republican with 26 per cent registered as Independent.

Many in the UK have written about experiences from the presidential election in 2008 – how the Obama campaign was able to mobilise community support and turn that election into a ‘movement for change’.

But few have looked at how the more humdrum midterm elections are organised and if there is anything that the Labour party can learn. In many ways, it is these elections, especially at a congressional district level that have more in common with a British general election. These elections are numerous, local and personal. They are often being contested against a backdrop of national issues, and questions over the national leadership, for which the candidate has little or no responsibility but will be held accountable.

This is the case here in Florida District 22. Ron Klein is a two-term congressman. He has supported the Obama stimulus package and healthcare reforms; he has also fought for reform of home insurance regulations, something which is of significant importance to Florida homeowners. In addition he has championed clean energy and the green economy both of which will bring great benefits to the Sunshine State. He is a hard working congressman trying to deliver for his district.

At the Klein campaign office in Delray Beach, enthusiastic and dedicated volunteers arrive early and leave late. They hit the phones hard, encouraging registered Democrats to vote early; they distribute garden posters and knock on doors, much like the final days of a UK election. But are the residents of south Florida listening and responding, and will Democratic supporters be motivated enough to turn out?

This election, like so many, is all about motivation, organisation and turnout. It differs very little from the marginal campaigns I have been involved in over the years in the UK.

The lack of motivation among Democrat voters is what is being called the enthusiasm gap. Democrats are faced with overcoming apathy and midterm disillusionment amongst supporters, while Republicans are fired up, assisted by the emergence of the Tea Party movement. This type of gap is a fact of political life but is more obvious than usual due to the phenomenal emotional movement that got behind Obama in 2008. It was always going to be a near-impossible task to maintain the level of support achieved during the presidential race, a situation made worse by the reality of managing a struggling economy. Yet Obama has maintained reasonable approval ratings and here in south Florida there seems to be no appetite for the extreme views being offered by the Tea Party-backed Republicans such as Allen West.

The volunteers are out in serious numbers in Palm Beach county. They are made up mainly of students and the retired. In the Delray office there are 10 or so volunteers making calls all day, and more at the weekends. This trend is replicated in other satellite offices across the district. In addition, canvass team are out and about and last week nearly 5000 doors were knocked on – that is a huge effort

Yet not everything runs smoothly or efficiently. For example, the raw data from the electoral register is not great – with lots of wrong and unused numbers, a great deal of time is being spent cleaning it up. The system being used doesn’t identify a person’s past voting intentions and a surprising number of registered Democrats hang up within seconds of being called – the speed with which people hang up is one of the big differences between the US and the UK.

Can the Labour party learn from the Democrats? Well of course we can – all political parties can learn from each other. But are we lagging far behind the US when it comes to campaigning on the ground? We certainly have less money to spend and this means we can afford fewer paid staff and less paid-for data, and we don’t advertise in the same way. But do we differ that much in our campaigning methods? I really don’t think so.

This week, the campaign is about motivating core supporters and mobilising them to vote early if possible and if they won’t do that, then to ensure they vote on the day. There will be GOTV teams on the phones and on the streets, there will be people offering lifts and others crunching numbers – much like an election week at home.

All in all, the similarities between campaigning on the ground in the US and in the UK are greater than the differences.

One big exception – here in south Florida this will all be done in glorious sunshine.

Photo: Wally Gobetz