Yesterday, after the Draper parade, Joel Freston scheduled a training session for VoteBuilder. For the uninitiated, VoteBuilder is an internet resource that slices and dices registered voters. It collates data from a variety of sources, including questionnaires submitted by the voters themselves. Then it describes the voting patterns and political behavior of anyone who’s ever cast a ballot and is still alive.
Yes, there is a scary dimension to this kind of technology, and no, it does not have access to is your actual vote. That information must be provided by voters themselves, but it’s amazing how many of us could care less about the “secret” in “secret ballot.”
One interesting aspect of VoteBuilder is the assignment of a numerical score to everyone in the database. The more Democratic your political behavior, the closer your score to 100%. The more Republican your political behavior the closer your score to zero.
As Joel concluded his explanation of that feature everyone thought, “Hmmm... I wonder what my score is?”
The men, sitting in darkness as information flashed on a screen, were concerned that their salary and sexual behavior might also be revealed. The women were silent, afraid their age and weight could suddenly appear in large type.
However, since I have a tiny income, and no sexual behavior, the question was nonthreatening. An additional truth is that my voting behavior was very unlikely to provide surprises.
So, after a few seconds of silence, I raised my hand and asked, “So Joel, what’s my score?”
Joel anticipated the inevitable and instantly projected my “boda fides” to this collection of friends, acquaintances and total strangers. There it was, bingo, a score of 99%.
The single element of surprise informing my friend’s reaction was, “Why just 99%?”
A voice intruded on the darkness and disbelief. “What’d he do to slip from a perfect score?”
Another responded, “Maybe he needs to buy a Prius.”
Funny? Yes, but probably very close to the truth.
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