In most American cities, there is one sure-fire way to break the ice at the bar. You turn to the person next to you and say something like “What about those Knicks?” - substituting the local baseball/ basketball/football team as appropriate.

Not in downtown Washington, DC. This is the only spot in North America where the perfect opening gambit is: “What about that healthcare reform?”

After the switchbacks of the Democratic primaries, DC is pumped for November’s main event.

Once the heat of August has abated and the politicians return, there will be no better place to breathe in the heady mix of high ambition and low tactics that is the contest to be Potus (President of the United States).

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So, where do you start? Well, assuming you’re skipping the 6am jog along the mall that many West Wingers use to kick-start their day, the relaxed, friendly Old Ebbitt Grill (675 15th Street; 00 1 202-347 4800, www.ebbitt.com ), near the White House, is not a bad bet for breakfast with power brokers. A version of the Grill has operated since 1856; it is a masculine, clubby saloon, full of dark-wood booths, Victorian gas lamps, antique beer steins and a stuffed walrus head (supposedly shot by Teddy Roosevelt).

The other power spot for breakfast is Seasons at the Four Seasons Hotel (2800 Pennsylvania Avenue; 342 0444, www.fourseasons.com
/washington ).

You’re further up the political food chain here, but I felt underdressed because my suit wasn’t Ralph Lauren Purple Label.

After breakfast, walk down the street and pop into the Willard hotel (1401 Pennsylvania Avenue; 628 9100, www.intercontinental.com ; doubles from £175). Ask to see the history gallery, which will explain just how central to the life of Washington this grand old dame has been.

Lincoln stayed here for two weeks before his inauguration. Ulysses S Grant used the public areas as a smoking parlour when his wife threw him out of the house - the American use of the term “lobbyist” is believed to come from the fact that those who wanted to petition him did so over a good cigar and a glass of bourbon in the lobby bar. Every president since Lincoln has either stayed or attended a function here, although none quite as informal as Bill Clinton, Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg sharing cigars and jokes during the filming of Minority Report in the swanky Willard Room.

The next thing should be a tour of the White House - but, since 9/11, they have been available only for groups of 10 or more, and you have to apply through your congressman. I’m guessing that rules most of you out. You might be tempted by the White House Visitor Center (15th and E Street), but it’s a gloomy place with a transient feel.

Best, instead, to console yourself with a peek through the railings of the genuine article, then head for another great Washington icon. At the corner of Independence Avenue and 1st Street, at the white tent, you can obtain a timed ticket for an hour-long tour of the great domed Capitol building.

It’s both informative and entertaining, if slightly uncomfortable for Brits (we did an awful lot of burning down, it seems), and ends in the vaulted basement, where you can stroll the same route the president, whoever he might be, will take when he walks onto the terrace to be inaugurated in January. The tour is free and, afterwards, the guide will tell you how, by showing your passport, you can get a ticket to the gallery to watch Congress in action.

Lunch now beckons, and it normally involves red meat. For a view of the Capitol through the foliage, try Charlie Palmer Steak (101 Constitution Avenue; 547 8100, www.charliepalmer.com ). Discreetly hidden behind tinted windows, and accessed through an unmarked door inside an office block, it’s a light, modern room with polished service and a bipartisan reputation, catering to staffers, lobbyists, lawyers, senators and congressmen of every hue. The Capital Grille (601 Pennsylvania Avenue; 737 6200, www.thecapitalgrille.com ), on the other hand, is a Republican hang-out by repute, its entrance marked by flaming torches.

Although it’s jointly owned by a Republican and a Democrat, the Caucus Room (401 9th Street; 393 1300, www.thecaucusroom.com ) has a reputation for favouring the latter. The bar, studded with political cartoons, is conducting its own straw poll. For $11 (£5.60), you can cast your vote by ordering a “poli-tini” - red (a cosmopolitan coloured with pomegranate liqueur) for Republican/McCain, or blue (a margarita with Curaçao) for Democrat/Obama. It might not be accurate, but it’s more fun than a Mori.

Alternatively, try Oya (777 9th Street; 393 1400, www.oyadc.com ), a flashy Asian eaterie, or the Hawk’n’Dove (329 Pennsylvania Avenue; 543 3300, www.hawkanddoveonline.com ), which is popular at lunchtime and after work with low-level staffers and interns grumbling about their “members”. The food is average but cheap (hence its popularity).

If you fancy a tour of the sights, the BiPartisan Tour Company (202 558 6848, www.bi-partisantourcompany.com ) offers tiny, open-topped Noddy-like electric cars, which are painted half red, half blue. You can be driven by a guide, but many opt for self-piloting, using an audio GPS that points out the main sights and offers quirky anecdotes. Self-drive starts at £15pp per hour.

Evening drinks might start at the Town & Country Bar of the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel (1127 Connecticut Avenue; 347 3000, www.renaissancehotels.com ), overseen by Sam the bar-man and his 101 martinis. The Mayflower is the place Eliot Spitzer, the disgraced New York governor, chose to entertain his £2,000anight companion earlier this year (room 871, if you’re interested).

The Palm (1225 19th Street;293 9091, www.thepalm.com ) is a high-power dining venue where everyone who is anyone is caricatured in bright cartoons on the walls. To witness some serious schmoozing away from the glare of the spotlight, however, try CityZen in the Mandarin Oriental (1330 Maryland Avenue; 554 8588, www.mohg.com ; doubles from £158). As Forbes has it: “If you want to go to the heart of the most powerful place in the world, go to the Mandarin Oriental, Washington, DC.”

The chef, Eric Ziebold, has created a £55 tasting menu - expect soft-shell crab tempura, cuttlefish confit and coconut bread pudding – that offers excellent value and pulls in politicos whose taste buds roam beyond a rare steak and crab cakes. The three-course bar menu (£23), however, is also good, and eating there is more fun.

I sat next to a “K Street cowboy”, as he called himself. (K Street is home to the big lobbying firms and, lately, upmarket nightclubs that cater to the “diplobrats”, rich embassy kids.) I asked him how he thought the various states would fall.

As he sipped on his spiced peach manhattan, he smiled. “Now, that would be telling,” he said. “People pay me a lot of money for information like that. But I’ll tell you this for nothing: this isn’t just America’s election. This time, it’s the world’s.”

I have to say, I drank to that.

- Rob Ryan travelled as a guest of Virgin Atlantic (0871 984 0840, www.virginatlantic.com ), which has return flights from Heathrow to Washington from £450 return. Or try British Airways (0844 493 0787, www.ba.com ) or United (0845 844 4777, www.unitedairlines.co.uk )

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