Houdini – Obama’s campaign computer

 

The Tech is a MIT student newspaper. The following is an interesting article on what the reporter saw occur on the ground as a volunteer on election day. What caught my eye is how Google Earth and technology was used to track voter statistics and provide a feedback mechanism to the volunteers to keep them motivated.

the Obama campaign is incredibly technologically advanced. The Obama campaign’s computer is named “Houdini.” It has a list of every single registered Democrat, Barack-leaning independent, and Obamacan. Each voter shows up as a black dot on a Google Map. The campaign records statistics on each of these voters, tracking the number of times each house has been canvassed, called, persuaded, and mainly badgered into voting for Obama.

When they do finally vote, the dot disappears from the screen, hence the name “Houdini.” Our job, as we learned when we arrived, is to make every single dot disappear.

Election Day: Yes We Can Have Free Yogurt - The Tech