Lawrence Lessig Wants To Run For President So He Can Resign

An anonymous reader writes: Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig has announced his intention to explore a bid for the U.S. presidency. By Labor Day, he will decide whether he has the support necessary to enter the Democratic primary. His goals are rather unusual — he says, "I want to run to be a different kind of president. 'Different' not in the traditional political puffery sense of that term. 'Different,' quite literally. I want to run to build a mandate for the fundamental change that our democracy desperately needs. Once that is passed, I would resign, and the elected Vice President would become President."

His top picks for a running mate include Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. Lessig calls it a "Presidency as referendum," a hack for the U.S. Constitution to give more power back to the citizens. "In no plausible sense do we have a representative democracy in America today." In an interview with the Washington Post, Lessig added, "Until we find a way to fix the rigged system, none of the other things that people talk about doing are going to be possible."

Comments

Lessig/Sanders, Sanders/Lessig

[The Real Dr John]

Both sound good to me. Let's see if Bernie can continue to gain support around the country.

Re:Showed too much of his hand

[bondsbw]

I've had the same idea before, and that doesn't have to be an issue.

My campaign would be simple: "Here are the things that Congress must pass. Until they pass every one of these, no strings attached, I will veto EVERY SINGLE BILL that comes across my desk. That includes budgets and any bill that continues the functioning of our government. By electing me, you are approving of this action and Congress will know precisely what the majority requires of them."

One change: my running mate would not be a traditional candidate, but would be like-minded. One of the bills that must pass would require another election to be held to determine who becomes President and Vice-President immediately after the bill is passed. I don't want the candidacy of my running mate to become an issue.