The fantasy game is no longer limited to baseball and football geeks; it also applies to the realm of political junkies.

Americans all over the nation can now use politicians to their advantage in an online game, Fantasy Congress.

“People care about baseball because it is transparent and easily understandable, and I personally think Congress and politics can be too,” said co-founder of the Web site Andrew Lee.

The Web site launched in October 2006 and was thought up by students at Claremont McKenna College in California. Much like fantasy sports, players can draft congressmen at www.fantasycongress.com. Points are earned solely by how well congressmen perform on Capitol Hill.

The closer each congressman’s proposed bill gets to becoming a law, the more points they earn. Participants can also gain points through other categories like good press and attendance.

If drafted congressmen perform badly, players can trade or bench them.

Political science instructor Travis Smith believes that the game may cause people to take politics less seriously because they will care more about their points in the game rather than whether or not some legislation is good for the country.

“It could be misleading,” Smith said. “They want [congressmen] to do well but they can’t effect them. We’re supposed to be a part of it.”

Smith said to get involved, students should be calling their representative and asking them to vote for or against legislation.

However, the Web site is not only about how many points congressmen earn. Players are kept up to date with how well their politicians are performing in Congress.

“Not even the publications here in D.C. have been able to provide a statistical perspective to Congress,” Lee said. “Our hope is that fantasy politics holds members of Congress accountable just like baseball card stats to a baseball player.”

Players can also rate the importance of proposed legislation.

Currently, thousands of Americans are participating in the game.

Smith said there is a chance that the game could influence Congress because they pay attention to everything, even when senators like Barack Obama have a MySpace page.

“I think any type of political inter-activity that uses the Internet will engage more of our generation and others outside of our generation,” said Lee.

The fall season for Fantasy Congress is currently in session and will end Nov. 2.

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