Harvard Law professor Lawrence Lessig is the latest Democrat to announce a potential run for the White House – but his campaign is much different than any candidate who has entered the race so far.
Lessig wants to run as a “referendum president,” meaning he would serve as president until passing a single mandate, called the Citizen Equality Act of 2017. He would then step down and allow the elected vice president to take over.
“When a democracy has lost the capacity to act as a democracy, a referendum president is a peaceful means to force a change that Congress is otherwise not going to make,” Lessig wrote in an op-ed for the Huffington Post.
Lessig’s big issue is campaign finance reform. Last year, the professor co-founded Mayday PAC, with the goal to fight big spending with more spending. However, despite spending more than $10 million in 2014 , Mayday was largely unsuccessful in the races it targeted.
Lessig’s new idea is the Citizen Equality Act. He claims this legislation would increase voter protection laws, end gerrymandering, and fund campaigns through small-dollar donations and public funds.
In his announcement video, Lessig said America’s “rigged system” of governing must be fixed before any other reforms are even possible, and the current Democratic candidates are not making this issue a priority.
“Though every major candidate in the Democratic primary for president has acknowledged this corruption, so far every one of them just puts it to one side,” he said.
Lessig said he is attempting to crowdfund his campaign, in order to give the next president, “whether Hillary, or Bernie, or Joe, or someone else – a Congress that can represent us, and a Congress that is free to lead.”
If Lessig is able to raise $1,000,000 by Labor Day, he will officially enter the race as a referendum candidate. If not, he will return the money to donors.
