Ah, red as in the red is the republican color you mean? I war surprised when I found out that red is the color of republicans, wich I thought was the one on the right side of US politics. Here as in most parts of the world right wing parties use blue and left wing parties use red. Can it be that the republican used to be the leftwing party (sorry my knowledge of US politics is not enough, I am learning though)?
You are forgetting Denmark, Italy and in some sense Norway. In all these countries thera are right wing parties in charge or middle parties and right wing like in Norway where a priest is Prime minister, if you are talking in sense of moral values. But I am afraid such values do not have much weight in European politics, not ewen here in Iceland.
It maybe had some influence in Spain before last elections but now the socialists are in control and they are doing ewerything in their power to reduce the influence of the church and family values and increasing the power of the state, feminists and other such groups. So Spain is on the way to be similar in these matters as the rest of Europe where the christian right is nonexisting.
The "red" and "blue" designations in the U.S. are very new. They were first used, or first came into prominence, after the 2000 election. One (or perhaps more) news services simply chose red for Bush's states and blue for Gore's states when publishing their map. It may have been simply accidental, or they may have felt that red should not be used for the left-wing party, because many Americans traditionally have associated "red" with "left" -- meaning hard left, i.e., socialist or communist. Since both concepts are unpopular in America, perhaps the media thought it was being fair or nice to the Democrats by making them blue, not red.
The reason why "blue" and "red" have become such widely used concepts in American politics is that the map was so noticeably regional -- there are red and blue regions, in addition to red and blue states. Some states have become more Republican than ever, or more Democratic than ever. Certain sectors of society, or types of social environments, have become more reliably Republican or Democratic than ever. The terms "red" and "blue" now refer to these differences as well. "Red" America is not only the states Bush won, but also Republican environments such as theologically conservative churches, the military, etc.
Hope this helps!
Your PM's and government's support are greatly appreciated.
In answer to your other question, it does happen to be true that a very long time ago, the Republican party was, in some ways though not all ways, a bit more to the left than were the Democrats -- from the founding of the Republican party in the 1850s until shortly before World War I, I would say. But this has nothing to do with the "red" and "blue" concept of today.
I think that may be where the designation comes from, since the colors have just recently become popular here and Bush and his people may be drawing on Texas history.
All the best in Europe. I was interested to read about the priest being prime minister in Norway. I guess we're all the same fight...to preserve our christian past so we can have a hopeful future.