Definitely blue

Bergen has decided. The Right party (blue) has chosen a coalition with the Progressive party (dark blue). Now they're trying to get the Christian Folk party (light blue) to go in with them.

The Progressive party has been not so much progressive (quite the contrary) as it has been, well, contrary. It's been the protest party, the populist party, the outsider party. It gained a lot of popularity, but only in recent years has it also gained some respect. Our neighboring municipality has been run by the Progressives for eight years, and still is. It seems to have been a success. Now other cities want to try, including Bergen.

I don't always understand Norwegian politics. That is to say, I understand what the parties represent and the traditions behind them and why Norway is set up the way it is politically, but I don't understand what motivates Norwegians in any given election year, i.e. why the people vote the way they do. As usual, this is when I am at my most foreign: Once again I have opted for a party that hardly anybody voted for. I am, as usual, completely out of step with the Norwegian zeitgeist. In an attempt to learn, I have asked some Norwegians why all the right-leaning, and they practically snort, "Materialism. We have it too good and now we've gotten greedy."

At any rate, it'll be interesting to see what it'll be like to be even bluer than the previous four years.