Website Encourages Political Involvement

Harvard students are checking out a newly-launched website that aims to increase political participation among undergraduates and motivate policies that break from those of the Bush administration.

As of last night, student participation had pushed Harvard to 10th place among 829 colleges on ClickBackAmerica.org, a website officially launched yesterday that champions what the site calls Progressivism.

Harvard’s ranking is based on student participation in the website’s political campaigns, which include spaces to signing online petitions.

Kawana Lloyd, a spokesperson for ClickBackAmerica.org, said Harvard’s current high involvement reflects a desire among the College’s undergraduates to reform national policies.

“It says that there are students who are obviously progressive and politically conscious [and] who do want to see a change in the current administration and current policy,” said Lloyd.

But Director of the Institute of Politics (IOP) Daniel R. Glickman said that considering the website’s recent launch, it is too early to see whether or not ClickBackAmerica.org would successfully encourage Progressive political activism on campus.

“I don’t think this is a very true indication of students’ involvement in politics,” he said.

But he added, “anything that’s being done to get young people engaged, especially using the medium of the Internet, is a good thing.”

In keeping with its motto—“You Act, We Donate, Progressives Win!”—ClickBackAmerica.org contributes $1 to the MoveOn.org Voter Fund each time a student engages in a political campaign on the website.

The MoveOn.org Voter Fund, according to its website, runs advertisements that are critical of the Bush administration, seeking to expose “President Bush’s failed policies in key ‘battleground’ states.”

This $1 million fundraising campaign—sponsored by ClickBackAmerica.org and MoveOn.org Voter Fund—is called the “Race to a Million College Click Drive.” This joint effort promises to award the highest-ranked school with public recognition from a yet-to-be-determined celebrity guest, according to Lloyd.

Harvard College Democrats President Andy J. Frank ’05 said that on-the-ground student participation is a better indication of Harvard’s undergraduate political involvement than the ranking on the new website. For example, he said activities such as an anti-Bush rally planned for tomorrow and student involvement in presidential campaign efforts for Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., gave a better sense of Harvard’s interest in the upcoming election.

After visiting the website, Secretary of the Harvard Republican Club Lauren K. Truesdell ’06 reaffirmed her organization’s support of Bush.

“We’re very confident that the president’s ideas will triumph in the election despite these liberal efforts,” she said.

IOP President Ilan T. Graff ’05 commended the website’s aims to promote student political participation.

“The IOP is supportive of efforts to mobilize greater political activism and hopes that projects such as ClickBackAmerica.org will become commonplace as civic engagement among young people increases across the political spectrum,” he said. “We’re definitely excited to see the political energy of Harvard students so prominently on display.”

ClickBackAmerica.org was founded by Ari Rabin-Havt, a George Washington University graduate student, according to a press release. He serves as the website’s executive director.

—Staff writer Margaret W. Ho can be reached at mwho@fas.harvard.edu.