Lawrence Lessig, a famous Harvard Law School professor and presidential candidate, announced that he is no longer pursuing the Democratic Party’s nomination because the Party recently changed the requirements to participate in the November 14 debate.

Lawrence Lessig announced his candidacy for president in early September, meeting a self-set goal of raising over $1 million in small donations. A well-known campaign finance advocate, Lessig sought to run for president in order to enact electoral reform, which he thought would increase political responsiveness and ensure everyone’s “equal right to vote.” His campaign was unique from the outset, but the support that he did have was vocal and polls suggest that campaign finance is an important issue to many. However, aside from being a longshot in the presidential race, his campaign encountered several additional obstacles.

“It is now clear that the Party won’t let me be a candidate,” Lessig said in a video (below) released on Monday. According to Lessig and his advisors, a subtle change in the debate criteria has made it impossible for him to participate in the upcoming debate. When the Democratic National Committee (DNC) initially announced the debate schedule back in August, the rules stated that participating candidates must receive, “at least 1 percent in three national polls, conducted by credible news organizations and polling organizations, in the six weeks prior to the debate.”

But recently, according to Lessig, the DNC tweaked these requirements ever so slightly in a way that precludes Lessig from participating. A memo from the DNC changed the wording from “in the six weeks prior to the debate” to “at least six weeks prior to the event,” meaning that participating candidates need to have met the threshold six weeks ahead of time, rather than in the period leading up to the debate. According to Lessig, “Under the new rule, unless we can time travel, there is no way that I can qualify.”

If what Lessig says is true, this change would exclude him from a debate that he would otherwise be participating in. One of the most significant challenges faced by the Lessig campaign is the fact that his name is not included in many national polls, but recently, he has hit the 1 percent threshold several times–meaning that he would likely qualify under the initial rules. Under the rule change, he would have already needed to qualify at the beginning of October.

Outside of polling, but also related, are Lessig’s challenges with the Democratic Party. Last month, he wrote an article for Politico Magazine titled, “I’m Trying to Run for President, But Democrats Won’t Let Me.” In the article, he outlined the challenges facing his campaign, and the unwillingness of the Democratic Party to accept him as a candidate. He argues that Party leaders don’t really view him as a legitimate candidate–noting that DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz had not yet taken the time to even speak with him.

It’s worth noting that even if Lessig was openly welcomed by the Democratic Party, his chances of receiving the Democratic nomination were extremely slim. While he would likely qualify for the upcoming debate if the rules did not change, polling at 1 percent isn’t necessarily impressive. Granted, if he was listed as an option in every poll he might rank a little higher, but it still wouldn’t materially change much.

The fact is, his candidacy is pretty peculiar–he even started out saying that, if elected, he would only serve as president until he could implement electoral reform, after which point he would resign. While he has since dropped the idea of being a “referendum president,” his nearly exclusive focus on a narrow reform agenda can limit the extent of his support. But that perspective might also miss Lessig’s point.

Sure, the best way for him to enact electoral reform would probably be to actually get elected, but it also seems like he simply wants to elevate the issue to a much higher level in the United States, particularly among policymakers. Were he able to attend the upcoming Democratic debate, he may have been able to do just that by demanding that the other candidates address the issue. Instead, he has been excluded from the debate and, as a result, the Democratic Party.

So what’s next for Lessig? He hasn’t announced whether he will pursue the presidency as an independent candidate, but in an email to the Washington Post he noted, “nothing (legal) is ruled out.” Lessig has made some unorthodox attempts to address the issue of campaign finance in the past, so we may want to keep an eye out for his next move.

Kevin Rizzo

Kevin Rizzo is the Crime in America Editor at Law Street Media. An Ohio Native, the George Washington University graduate is a founding member of the company. Contact Kevin at krizzo@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Democrats Squeeze Lawrence Lessig Out of Presidential Race appeared first on Law Street.

The crowded 2016 election may get yet another face, but the newest candidate might run on a uniquely one-dimensional platform. Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard Law professor and government reform advocate, launched a presidential exploratory committee this week, but unlike most candidates, Lessig’s potential campaign will focus on reforming politics by removing the influence of money. If elected, he will consider his presidency a mandate to fix the political system–and then promptly step down.

In a video released this week, Lessig announced that if the leading Democratic candidates do not make government reform the single focus of their campaigns, and if he is able to raise $1 million from small donors by Labor Day, he will declare his candidacy for the Democratic nomination. But what truly makes the possibility of Lessig’s campaign unique is his promise to hold the presidency only until meaningful reform is passed, after which he would resign–allowing the elected Vice President to assume the presidency. See the video below for Lessig’s announcement:

So what are Lessig’s ideas for government reform? His three-point plan, which he calls the Citizen Equality Act of 2017, involves “the equal right to vote,” “equal representation,” and “citizen funded elections.” This plan combines existing reform policies to, among other things, remove voting barriers, stop gerrymandering, and institute a voucher or public fund matching system for campaign donations.

The underlying problem that Lessig emphasizes is the idea that in the current American political system, every citizen does not enjoy equal representation from elected officials–or in Lessig’s words, “the system is rigged.” Much of this hinges on his issues with the current campaign finance system, in which wealthy donors are able to pour unlimited amounts of money into Super PACs and Social Welfare Organizations (for more information on campaign finance see LawStreet’s explainer here). According to Lessig, all current political issues pale in comparison to what he calls “citizen equality,” because absent this equality, Congress’ agenda will remain controlled by the small number of people who fund their campaigns.

One of the most interesting aspects of Lessig’s announcement is his idea of a “Referendum President,” who would hold office only as long as it takes to enact reform, then promptly resign–allowing the elected Vice President to assume office. If Lessig does run, he intends to make his campaign about his reform package rather than his capacity to carry out the duties of the Presidency.  In his announcement video, Lessig said, “The candidate is the referendum. The campaign is for that referendum.”

This isn’t the first time Lessig has attempted to use novel methods to reform politics. In 2014, he created the Mayday PAC, which spent close to $7.5 million to support Congressional candidates who favor campaign finance reform. While the PAC was not particularly successful–only two of the eight candidates that it supported won their elections in 2014–the idea of using a “Super PAC to end all Super PACs” was certainly unique. This time, however, Lessig seeks to gain a much broader base of support, rather than soliciting support from “50 billionaires.”

Lessig’s campaign may seem like a long shot, and it likely is, but there is a good chance that he will at least launch a campaign. There are two conditions that must be met in order for him to declare his candidacy after Labor Day. First, he must raise $1 million in the next 26 days–he has currently raised nearly $150,000 so far this week. Second, he will only run if no leading Democratic candidate promises to make his reform agenda the primary purpose of their campaign. While several of the candidates have called for campaign finance reform, and some even want a constitutional amendment along those lines, Lessig says that they must do more to make their goals credible.

Another remaining challenge for Lessig is the upcoming Democratic debate. If he does run, he will almost certainly need to participate in the debate in order to have a reasonable shot at the Democratic Nomination. Per the Democratic Party’s rules, candidates must poll at over one percent in at least three national polls to qualify, a threshold that Lessig believes he will be able to reach. In an interview with the Washington Post, Lessig said, “If we can be in the debates and frame this issue in a way that becomes compelling, then I think there’s a chance to see it take off.”

While his campaign might be a long shot, if you think campaign finance and political reform are important you may want to keep an eye out for Lessig’s campaign. He may fail to get enough support for a successful campaign, but his efforts could elevate the issue of campaign finance as the 2016 race heats up.

Kevin Rizzo

Kevin Rizzo is the Crime in America Editor at Law Street Media. An Ohio Native, the George Washington University graduate is a founding member of the company. Contact Kevin at krizzo@LawStreetMedia.com.

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