The Muller Election

[mabfan]

A few folks including my half-brother Danny have reminded me that tomorrow is the date of the Muller Election.

What's that, you ask? It's quite simple. In 2008, the United States, as it had done for the previous few presidential elections, had the supercomputer Multivac determine the winner by selecting one citizen to be America's representative. Multivac chose Norman Muller as the voter of the year for 2008, the man whose views on politics were closest to the American average for the year. Muller reported to Multivac to answer a series of questions about his political preferences and his opinions on the state of the world, and based on that interview, Multivac named the winning candidate who would go on to become president in 2009.

Or so Isaac Asimov wrote in the short story Franchise, first published in August 1955. I had completely forgotten that the story was set on Election Day 2008.

Nomi and I plan to vote first thing tomorrow morning. Go ye and do likewise.

Comments

[marsgov.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the reference. I was just thinking of this story yesterday.

(Not because I remembered the date, but because I was musing on all the pointless polls and the incredible amounts of money that Obama has spent to so little purpose. Perhaps it was all a plot to locate Muller and influence his vote.)

[elul-3.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I had completely forgotten the date, and I'm happy to be reminded of the story. I'm not sure whether it's a warning that we should never underestimate the value of our right to vote, or a sad commentary on how devalued that right has become, but in either case it's worth rereading tonight.

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

I love these reminders that we are living in the future; and this one is so timely. Thank you for posting it!