The artists include painter Frans Widerberg and photographer Morten Krogvold. One of Widerberg's paintings, for example, will be auctioned in August over the campaign's web site,with proceeds from a sale going towards efforts to unseat Bush.
"We are frustrated and shaken over what's been going on," Widerberg told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK), referring mainly to the war in Iraq. The campaign wants to inform Americans through the ad in the Post that a majority of Norwegians opposed the Bush-led invasion of Iraq.
Campaign leader Torgeir Knag Fylkesnes told NRK that the text of the ad will be "polite," and will contend that the war against terror in Iraq merely creates more terror.
A full-page ad in the Washington Post costs around NOK 700,000. The campaign has raised about NOK 140,000 to date.
Skepticism
Geir Lundestad of the Nobel Institute in Norway is skeptical about the campaign, and thinks its message will be lost in the media frenzy leading up to the November election. "I have little faith that such an ad will have any effect in the US," he said.
Lundestad noted, however, that this election is "special" in Norway, because there's "never been an American administration that almost the entire Norwegian power elite is skeptical towards."
"Everyone is asking me, 'do you think we'll get rid of Bush in November?,' and that's a completely new situation," Lundestad said.
He added that the Norwegian-American population in the US, however, seems to have shifted to the right and many support Bush. "Earlier, Norwegians in the US were outsiders, but now they're part of 'the establishment' and completely integrated," Lundestad said.
The campaign "Tellhim.no" is a non-partisan organization but was launched at the initiative of the Socialist Left Party (SV). Supporters include the charitable organization Norwegian People's Aid and Grandmothers for Peace.
