Knowing when to shut the hell up 101 - Labour vs GOP

One fascinating comparison that has been becoming more and more glaring is how the Labour Party sometimes needs to learn to shut the hell up. The big example is the NHS debate.
Immediately after Daniel Hannan pointed out the shortcomings of the NHS on US television, a seeming grass-roots campaign of ordinary Britons got on twitter and other networking sites to show their support for the NHS. Now, these campaigns probably weren't as 'independent' as the media coverage of them might have led us to believe, but in the media and in the minds of people across the UK, they were free from the tarnish of partisan politics.
However, then Labour got involved. And they turned a perfectly good independent grass-roots campaign into an extension of the Labour Party campaign. They ruined it by attaching it to a political party. And the whole issue (partially thanks to David Cameron's actions) has dropped off the radar screen, but not before Labour got roundly insulted by the media and blogosphere for missing an open goal.

In the US the Republican Party have actually got the health care strategy exactly right. They are doing almost nothing. They are not taking a lead, they aren't actively (publicly) getting involved in the grass-roots campaign against 'Obama-care' and they are letting the Democrats fight amongst themselves and against what is perceived to be the 'voice of the people'. This means the GOP gets the benefits of the campaign (anti-Obama, anti-Democrat, anti-Government health care) without being obviously a part of it. This means that independents and conservative Democrats can be involved without feeling they are supporting one party over the other.

Sure, the GOP and the protesters have the same policy position, right? So it shouldn't matter if you happen to be in the same group protesting against something with the other political party? Wrong! It means you can oppose a policy without having to nail your colours to the mast of the other party, and it makes doing it feel more personally acceptable. Think of it this way. How many left-wing Conservatives do you think signed up to #welovetheNHS after Labour nailed their colours to it?

This may sound like a small difference, but it can have a huge effect on the trajectory of a political debate and of the media portrayal of that debate. For example, this bi-partisan opposition movement has meant that in polling majorities of the electorate have expressed support for those protesting at Town Hall meetings. Also polling shows a healthy majority of Republicans and Independents (and a not insignificant number of Democrats) oppose the current health care reform plans.

So, what can Labour take from this? You are a political party, and more importantly you are the government. Jumping on a grass roots bandwagon does not look like leadership. Don't do it.