Christian Democrats want Bush campaign (Norway)

Aftenposten ^ | April 21, 2005 | not specified

[franksolich]

Christian Democrats want Bush campaign

Christian Democrat MP Anita Apelthun Sæle wants enemies. She believes her party needs to take a page from the book of Bush election strategist Karl Rove and start getting tough in order to win back voters.

"We must make some enemies. Only then can we get more friends," Sæle told left-wing newspaper Klassekampen.

The Christian Democrats have declined in popularity and are about 5-6 percent points below their 2001 election result and have their lowest voter loyalty figures ever.

"We have tried for too broad a profile and have a lot to correct for our core voters. This applies to groups who support free schools, Israel and temperance. The Christian Democrats must be clear about what the party wants. We must bank on clear talk and be understood," Sæle told the newspaper.

Sæle said the party needed to rediscover its clearly Christian profile, but had luckily stood tough on its stance on abortion and other family issues.

[franksolich]

For those who do not know--and no, Norway is not to be confused with "Sweden" or the European Union--it appears Norway has about 12 political parties.

The government currently in power is a center-right coaliton, including the Christian Democrats. The prime minister is from another party, not the Christian Democrats, and has about as much popularity as does common sense in DUmmieland.

Authentic Norwegians actually in Norway, who read and post on Free Republic, tell us that the current prime minister has all the charm and charisma of a certain recently-failed Democratic candidate for the presidency in this country.

National elections are scheduled for this autumn in Norway; currently a fragile coalition of center-left parties leads in the polls.....but, as we all know, anything could happen, and there appear to be some, uh, rather deep divisions within the left in Norway.

But at any rate, no matter which side wins, one can probably count on (a) Norway continuing to be our ally, supporting us with both men and money, in the war against terror, and (b) Norway remaining outside of European Union.

[Somewhat Centrist]

Phah, I beat the ping!

[franksolich]

Ping for the Norway ping list.



I am looking forward to a new computer, to arrive here in a couple of weeks. This computer has been a good computer and all that, but is "tired."

I count "time" not in minutes and hours, but in cigarettes, and because of narrowing "space" and fading "memory" in this computer, oftentimes I find it takes the time of smoking 5-8 cigarettes to get a Norway news-item posted.

The other day, someone on the Norway ping list asked me for some links (to DUmmieland), and I really loathed and detested that I had to say, "sorry, no," especially since I like this person a great deal.

But it would have taken too many cigarettes, to post those links.

HOWEVER, after the new computer comes and is installed, posting links will be faster than the blinking of an eye, and so there should be no problems with such requests in the future.

[franksolich]

I bet you know now why you beat the "ping," too; it took almost an entire cigarette for the photograph of the flag to go from Microsoft Word to Free Republic, on this computer.

[Eurotwit]

Actually, the PM IS from the Christian Democrats. He is even educated as a priest.

Cheers.

[franksolich]

Hmmm. My "take" on other Norwegian news articles is that he is from another center-right party, and I always wondered how that happened, since the Christian Democrats are the largest party in that coalition.

Maybe I lost something in the "translation" (my own amateur attempts at reading in Norwegian).

[franksolich]

Ooops, the Progress Party is the largest party in the center-right coalition, not the Christian Democrat party.

So the prime minister does come from the party that is NOT the largest member of the coalition.

Or perhaps I should stop trying to read Norwegian--fumbling all over the place--and go back to reading English?

[Somewhat Centrist]

The government currently in power is a center-right coaliton, including the Christian Democrats. The prime minister is from another party, not the Christian Democrats, and has about as much popularity as does common sense in DUmmieland.

What, Bondevik has stepped down? How come I wasn't told?

(He's still in power, as near as I can tell, but you are at least half right, his support is in the single digits)

[Somewhat Centrist]

So the prime minister does come from the party that is NOT the largest member of the coalition.

Yes, possitions in government are "awarded" in negotiations when the government is formed. The Christian Dems have been struggeling for a few years now with getting noticed, and they seem to have emphasized visibility in these negotiations. This is part of the reason they have lost support I think, as they are viewed by their base as having sold out.

[wolfpat]

The most beautiful woman I ever dated was from Norway. She was from Arnes ( I don't know how to make the little circle over the 'A'). I hated it when she went back.
I think I'll pay closer attention to what's going on over there. Thanks for posting this.

[Eurotwit]

The progress party IS not part of the coalition, but supports the coalition in some matters.

Perhaps, you should stick to English :-P

The conservatives, I believe, are by far the largest party in the governing coalition.

Cheers.

[franksolich]

Well, admittedly they are bumbling and error-filled attempts at translating, but lately I've had this, uh, problem with Norwegian news that is translated into English.

I get the feeling we aren't being told the whole story, and that there's a lot of stories we aren't being told, period--and so just out of curiosity, with a Norwegian-English dictionary in hand, I've been giving a swing at trying (please notice the word "trying") to read Norwegian news in Norwegian, rather than this English-translated stuff.

So far, I am "advanced" enough that just by looking at some script for half a second, I can tell if it is Norwegian, or Danish, or Icelandic, or Faeroese, or Swedish--a distinction I bet most here on Free Republic cannot make.

[Somewhat Centrist]

Yep, they are.

I think I'll do a summation of the parties and their policies. Might take me a couple of minuites, so don't get too eager.

[Eurotwit]

I am truly impressed by your tenacity. Your dedication to learning the Norwegian language would put most Norwegians to shame :-)

BTW: The largest story newswise of the last few days, is a row over the alleged poor response of our foreign department to the Tsunami.

I think Aftenposten does have an article about it, in its English language section.

Cheers and good luck with your language studies!

[Eurotwit]

Oh, I am patient. :-)

There has been some attempts to to such a summation, but I have a feeling yours is going to be a tour-de-force.

Welcome to Freerepublic btw.

Cheers.

[franksolich]

Yeah, I've been reading (in English) about the tsunami reaction in Norway, but that's not the sort of story that "sells" Norway to members of Free Republic; a trifle bit too dull.

So we are always confronted with the moose-and-reindeer stories, and the ones a trifle bit too dull.

And surely there is more to Norway than just a "socially-sensitive" reaction to a natural disaster, and moose and reindeer.

For someone trying to figure out Norway in Norwegian, well, my "trick" is trying (please notice the word "trying") to decipher and read (a) the want-ads and (b) the crime listings, in Norwegian.

[Eurotwit]

And what are your conclusions then (from the crime listings and wanted ads)?


I haven't followed the news all that much lately, as I have been to busy burrying my nose in biology books... One month to go :-)

Cheers.

[franksolich]

Yeah, we all know you've been busy with examinations--it's that time of the year, in Europe. I suspect other authentic Europeans actually in Europe who are members of Free Republic, are bogged down in the books too.

Well, I've only been doing this "learning by practice" "translating" for two weeks, ever since I got that handy-dandy Norwegian-English dictionary.

As for my "take" on the "want-ads," there sure seems to be a lot of eastern Europeans looking for jobs in Norway.

As for my "take" on the crime news, well, it appears Norway is not as "crime-free" as our mainstream news media likes to urge us it is; in fact, frankly speaking, it appears Norway is no better than, no worse than, the United States.

[Eurotwit]

Oh, and another fairly large story lately has been the rounding up of the perps behind the NOKAS robbery in Stavanger.

And strangely, the largest newspaper had a story today regarding a Hamas murder of a woman in Gaza. She was apparently killed for looking at a bridal gown. Such "unflattering" news about the Palestinians usually doesn't get such prominence.

Cheers.

[franksolich]

The problem with the stories about the NOKAS robbery is that few if any on Free Republic are aware what the NOKAS robbery was, and so all the follow-up stories have little or no appeal, hardly anyone knowing the "background."

Now, if the Norway ping list had existed before January 28, and as the NOKAS robbery took place, yeah, sure, I have no doubt many members of Free Republic would have been interested in the story, and kept up with it.

But as for right now, doing anything on the NOKAS robbery would be like expecting others to start reading a book halfway through the story, rather than at the beginning.

However, it does seem the Norway ping list, and interest in Norway, continues to grow. It used to be a "good day" when the Norway ping list had 10 members, and a story got 100 "views" and 6-12 "comments." Now a typical story from Norway gets, usually, more than 500 "views" and at least 20 "comments."

I'm trying to get the Norway ping list up to your record--after all, you're the guy who posted a story that got more than 60,000 "views" and 3,000 "comments."

When I can get numbers like that, I'll know I succeeded in "selling" Norway to members of Free Republic.