A ”nerd deluxe”, please...

The big topic of discussion the last couple of days has been the documentary in which Göran Persson sits in front of a camera and describes his life as Prime Minister (the interviews were made during his whole tenure as PM). Now Göran Persson complains about how the material – over 100 hours – has been cut. And I agree: please do another loooong version for all political nerds who wants to hear everything he said about politics, and not persons. Maybe it can be included as extra material in the new dvd that is about to be released? A “nerd deluxe”?

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Sweden lost to Northern Ireland in a qualifier to the Euro 2008 so I will finally have to write this: Time to go, national coach Lars Lagerbäck. Thanks for all the fun, but this just ain’t good enough.

More about the congress and Mona Sahlin...

It’s Wednesday and I still get a smile on my face when I think about the congress last weekend. There is some stuff to read at aip.nu; editorial, a summary of the political debate, Ingvar Carlsson’s pieces of advice to Mona, but also an essay about US politics written by my friend Kevin Croke.

Also: Here is photo of me and my girlfriend Emma during the party Saturday evening. A fun and historic night [thanks for the photo Nisha].

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The documentaries about Göran Persson’s 11 years in power are like a car wreck; it is impossible not to watch. My basic analysis after the first two episodes is that this only confirms the two sides of Persson. One the hand, an enormously skillful politician. On the other hand, a harsh and blunt man who apparently says things in front of a camera that other people would not say alone in the bathtub. Third episode tomorrow Thursday.

Thanks/Welcome

Historic times are coming up, Göran Persson is about to step down and Mona Sahlin will become the first woman ever to lead our party. In my editorial this week I write about this transition, starting from a famous election poster from 1985… More here.

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Last weekend was a lot a fun, on Saturday I was at THE party, and it was among the best parties I have been to in a long while [hey, a Swedish version of the Seegers Session’s Band played]. I will not blog about any details, but I can say that I felt very happy (and hip) to be a social democrat that night. As you have seen in the tabloids, a lot ”famous” people were there, and I hope the openness and mix of people that night will characterize our party in the future. It was probably the hippest event I have been to since I ended up at Stella McCartney’s party during the Notting Hill carnival in London in 1998...

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Also made a new friend during the weekend; don’t miss his blog.