Lawrence Lessig’s crazy Plan To Run For President, restore marketing campaign Finance, And Resign

The Harvard legislation professor says the us’s political system wants 7:fifty seven AM

during the last twenty years of speaking about the issue of massive money in politics, Congress hasn’t in reality voted to do anything about it, and it can be not likely that they’ll every time soon. So Harvard university law professor Lawrence Lessig has cooked up a crazy plan to power some trade: he is looking to crowdfund a presidential campaign interested by the only issue of campaign finance reform.

If Lessig can raise $1 million via Labor Day, and if no different presidential candidates take in what he calls “citizen equality” as their first priority, he plans to run as the first ever “referendum” president (he has already began a SuperPAC to assist fund candidates who strengthen his objectives.). once elected, he would work exclusively on passing a law to fix campaign finance and to re-draw districts which are extra politically fair. And once he comprehensive that, he’d immediately resign, handing over the reins to his vice chairman—whether which is either of the most important Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders (no doubt they savour the offer), or any person else.

here he is explaining his “Citizen Equality Act,” designed to maneuver the us of a again to equal representation for everyone:

His theory is that an atypical president can’t tackle the issue of marketing campaign finance. “they may be able to’t restore this on their very own,” he says. “we’ve to accept that simple truth. The pursuits that may block reform are the interests Congress relies most upon. they can’t do it. They want an intervention.”

Presidential elections don’t permit for actual referendums like the kind that happen in states like California, the place voters can approve or reject laws while they’re vote casting people into office. but Lessig thinks he can hack the device, and to find out what individuals actually want by means of asking them to again a single issue. He also suppose no one’s tried it earlier than because the technology didn’t exist to run a campaign this manner.

“There’s never been the method—aka, the web—and infrequently the need,” he says.

The lopsided device of funding campaigns retains getting worse. with the aid of the beginning of August, it was once clear that the 1% (or the 1% of the 1%) are already dominating the 2016 presidential marketing campaign: A tiny staff of ultra-rich families and their companies, smaller than ever prior to, has funded half of of all donations so far.

Lessig argues that we need campaign finance reform prior to another vital regulation can pass. NASA scientist Jim Hansen, as an instance, has stated that money in politics is the single biggest motive we shouldn’t have climate rules but.

“money is the leverage level in our political gadget,” Lessig says. “Politicians are depending on marketing campaign money; they dance to the tune of the suppliers of that money name. the most straightforward solution to get a senator’s consideration is to carry a fundraiser for her. So the most simple option to construct the affect necessary to block very important reform is to make the contributors dependent on you—for marketing campaign cash.”

If corporations do not want something to occur, they can buy their option to the result they need. it’s an glaring problem, and Lessig has a laudable purpose. however will it work?

most of the people say no. “i suppose if Lessig will get elected to nationwide office, anything else is that you can think of,” says Julia Azari, a political science professor at Marquette university who studies presidential mandates. “but really, person leaders work inside the higher gadget. there isn’t a motive to imagine that members of Congress—especially Republicans, however most likely additionally many Democrats—can be extra more likely to pursue one thing like this.”

specializing in a single issue may actually make issues worse. “Single-issue candidacies are, for my part, much much less more likely to accomplish things,” she says. “events and coalitions are shaped round a variety of concerns. some of Lessig’s ideas sound good, however they may be now not related to the constraints of political truth.”

even if Lessig have been someway to be successful, corporations would still be capable to pour cash into lobbying. He admits that excellent equality is not imaginable—but in addition argues that it is “now not an argument against doing away with the novel inequality we see today. Even our Framers—individuals who couldn’t see the importance of race or sex equality at all—bought the significance of citizen equality. through ‘the people,’ Madison explained, they supposed ‘now not the wealthy greater than the terrible.'”

And although his campaign would not get far, he thinks he’s already having some affect. “Bernie moved the issue from #8 to #2 the day I launched,” he says. “That’s progress.”

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[All Photos: courtesy Lessig for President]

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