(Yes, that’s a pretty tortured Beatles reference, but Mama E would be upset if it wasn’t there.)
Norway has a center-right government now, led by the second female prime minister in their history, Edna Solberg. Congratulations to Høyre, the Norwegian conservative party, that forms the backbone of the governing coalition.
Their success did not happen overnight. Back in the summer 2009, the conservatives were decimated and trending downward. Even the activists were wary or being active – knocking on doors for politics was viewed by some as an invasion of personal space, and no one wanted to be impolite. (Imagine the political process being stymied because people are too polite. Now there’s a foreign concept.)
There were, however, some very positive leaders within the party who appreciated the opportunities of technology and how it could help with a door-to-door and voter-to-voter ground game, (They even brought in some bumbling American to help them make the case to their activists.)
This week, they realized the fruits of their efforts:
Conservatives in America can learn how to win elections from Erna Solberg and conservatives in Norway… For example, in the city of Hamar (population 29,000), the Conservative Party’s voter technology identified over 5,000 homes where the bulk of their base vote would come from.
In the week leading up to the election, every identified home was personally contacted by a volunteer. In addition, all identified conservative voters throughout the entire country received text messages on election day.
Jim Eltringham 