Harvard professor Lawrence Lessig is launching an exploratory committee for the Democratic presidential nomination focused on his signature issue, reforming the nation’s campaign finance laws.
“At the core of our democracy there is a basic inequality, not the inequality of wealth, though that is a problem, or the inequality of speech, though some think that a problem too, but an inequality of citizens,” the prominent campaign finance activist said in a video on his new website.
{mosads}“Jefferson’s truth, that all are created equal, has become Orwell’s meme, that some are more equal than others.”
Lessig said that campaign finance reform is the first step toward addressing every other major issue in American politics, including climate change, gun control and Wall Street reform, and should be the top priority of any president.
He envisions a president that will serve with the singular goal of campaign finance reform, and step down once it’s achieved to let the vice president serve out the remainder of the term.
His campaign hopes to crowd-fund $1 million by Labor Day, and he promised to run himself if no other Democratic candidate endorsed his plan.
“The candidate is the referendum, the campaign is for that referendum,” he said.
Lessig also took a shot at the current Democratic field, in particular Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Both candidates have trumpeted the cause of campaign finance reform throughout their campaigns, with Sanders taking the additional step of not blessing a super-PAC to bolster his bid.
“Though ever major candidate in the Democratic primary for president has acknowledged this corruption, so far every one of them just puts it to one side as if without fixing the rigged system first, we could get climate change legislation or sane limits on guns,” he said.
In a phone call with reporters, Lessig argued the current field isn’t doing enough on the issue.
“Even if they check off the boxes of reform, they have not yet showed us how to get a mandate to get these reforms passed,” he said.
Lessig added that he indirectly tried to encourage former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Gov. Jerry Brown (D-Calif.), MSNBC host and former Rep. Joe Scarborough (R-Fla.) to jump into the race to support his cause. He also said he wanted former Comedy Central host Jon Stewart to run, comparing the quest to that of a popular Lord of the Rings character.
“He was talking on his last show about being Frodo Baggins, that’s exactly what this person is,” he said of Stewart, who stepped down from his post on The Daily Show last week.
“This is Frodo Baggins, grabbing the ring so that you can throw away the power and that’s the only way to save the kingdom.”
Lessig most recently ran the MAYDAY super-PAC, a group that advocated for campaign finance reform and was intended to top all other super-PACs. At the time he called it the “super-PAC to end all super-PACs.”
He stepped down earlier this year and handed the reigns over to Zephr Teachout, a former New York gubernatorial candidate.
This story was updated at 12:19 p.m.