Crowdfunded Candidate Harvard Professor Lawrence Lessig Hits Million Dollar Goal

[CHL]

Harvard law professor Larry Lessig says he's running for president

• Presidential exploratory committee reaches $1m fundraising benchmark
• Democrat wants to address campaign finance reform, voting rights issues and ‘political gerrymandering’

Lessig previously said he would resign his position at Harvard and focus on the nomination race if he raised at least $1m by Labor Day. Photograph: Bryan Sutter/Demotix/Corbis
Associated Press in Washington

Monday 7 September 2015 04.09 AEST Last modified on Monday 7 September 2015 04.16 AEST

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The Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig said on Sunday his presidential exploratory committee had reached the $1m benchmark he said would trigger a formal White House bid.

The Democrat announced his fundraising total in an interview on ABC’s This Week.

Lessig said he was running to address campaign finance reform, voting rights issues and “political gerrymandering”.

Should he achieve his agenda as president, the 54-year-old South Dakota native promises to resign and let his vice-president take over. He declined to name potential vice-presidential picks when asked during the interview.

Lessig previously said he would resign his position at Harvard and focus on the nomination race if he raised at least $1m by Labor Day.

He also said he did not believe the other candidates in the race – 17 Republicans and five Democrats – were sufficiently focused on “returning political power to citizens”.

The Vermont senator Bernie Sanders has made opposition to the supreme court’s Citizens United ruling on campaign finance a central part of his stump speech, in which he calls for “a political revolution” against the richest 1% of society.

In an NBC poll released on Sunday, Sanders led presumed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton by nine points in the early voting state of New Hampshire.

Harvard law professor Larry Lessig says he's running for president
If he gets to 1% in the polls and makes it to the debate Hillary will have to address this

 

[CHL]

What a surprise

Hillary Clinton proposes campaign finance overhaul to limit influence of big donors

Democratic presidential frontrunner says ‘we have to end the flood of secret, unaccountable money that is distorting our elections’



Hillary Clinton speaks to supporters in Hampton, Illinois, on Monday. She is seeking the nomination to be the Democratic candidate in the November 2016 presidential election. Photograph: Louis Brems/AP
Reuters

Tuesday 8 September 2015 15.53 AEST

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Hillary Clinton is proposing a slate of campaign finance reform measures aimed at limiting political donations by corporations and large donors while increasing transparency in election spending.

Clinton, who is seeking the nomination to be the Democratic candidate in the November 2016 presidential election, identified measures she would pursue if she became president.

Among them are rules requiring greater disclosure of political spending, including by publicly traded companies and US government contractors, and a program that would provide matching funds for small donations to presidential and congressional candidates.

“We have to end the flood of secret, unaccountable money that is distorting our elections, corrupting our political system and drowning out the voices of too many everyday Americans,” Clinton said.

“Our democracy should be about expanding the franchise, not charging an entrance fee.”

The measures are aimed at tapping into voter concern over inequality, ranging from income to influence in national affairs. Clinton has put the issue at the center of her campaign, saying she will champion “everyday Americans” and boost the middle class.

But Clinton has come in for criticism for that theme, given her own family wealth and her decades in high-profile public positions.

Clinton also plans to call for an overturning of the controversial 2010 Citizens United ruling by the supreme court. It allowed corporations and individuals to spend unlimited money for political advocacy through independent political action committees so long as they do not coordinate with candidates.

That ruling has become a flashpoint on the campaign trail, drawing criticism from other candidates as well, such as Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who has pressured Clinton on her left.

Overturning the ruling would require new supreme court justices as well as amending the constitution, according to Clinton’s plans, and both are fraught with uncertainty.

While Clinton remains the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, beating Sanders 46% to 24% in a five-day rolling poll dated 4 September by Reuters/IPSOS, the progressive senator has been eating away at her lead.

In an NBC News/Marist poll released on Sunday, 41% of Democratic voters in New Hampshire would back Sanders while 32% would cast a vote for Clinton if the poll were held today and the vice-president, Joe Biden, were on the ballot.

Hillary Clinton proposes campaign finance overhaul to limit influence of big donors

 

[Slystallion]

Another commie with no chance and a bunch of neck beards and hipsters caping for

 

[CHL]

Another commie with no chance and a bunch of neck beards and hipsters caping for

neck beards such as yourself are usually "libertarians", slyhomosexual.

The vast majority of Americans have stated in polls they are against money in politics and Lessig has given no indication of any other liberal views, let alone further left, other than saying extreme wealth inequality is an issue from what I've seen

 

[Jello Biafra]

I like Lawrence Lessig and am glad his crowd-funding (I gave him $5) took off and he reached his goal.
He has no shot in hell of winning but I like to see as many people run as possible. Hopefully he can find his way onto the debate stage.

 

[Tate]

He brings an important message to the table. Gerrymandering is eroding popular democracy to comical levels and it's rarely brought up at all. Campaign finance is terrible as well but that gets more play already.

 

[Jello Biafra]

He brings an important message to the table. Gerrymandering is eroding popular democracy to comical levels and it's rarely brought up at all. Campaign finance is terrible as well but that gets more play already.

People don't realize that skipping voting during non-presidential election years is a huge mistake.
Voting for your desired pol to be president is nice but letting all manner of a$$holes get elected to the state legislature where they can rewrite district voting boundaries in ways that make it almost impossible for a specific political party to ever lose power is dangerous.

 

[tmonster]

I wish Sanders would pick him as vp
he's been in the trenches for campaign reform forever

 

[SirReginald]

neck beards such as yourself are usually "libertarians", slyhomosexual.

The vast majority of Americans have stated in polls they are against money in politics and Lessig has given no indication of any other liberal views, let alone further left, other than saying extreme wealth inequality is an issue from what I've seen

IF and IF Sanders wins the primary maybe he should call for Lessig to be his VP. Just an idea