Harvard legal scholar Lawrence Lessig is running for US president as a Democrat on a single issue: reform. He's calling his platform the Citizen Equality Act (CEA), which if adopted by Congress, would reform campaign finance laws, end partisan gerrymandering, and increase access to the voting booth. The cofounder of Creative Commons has raised more than $1 million in small donations toward his presidential bid, which is a strange one at that. If he gets elected and the CEA is passed, he'll resign the presidency and the vice president will take over.

But no sitting president can focus exclusively on a single issue. After all, it's the US presidency. Given that, we asked Lessig questions on his odds of winning, his position on copyright, the war on terror, and even who he'd tap as a Supreme Court justice:

Ars Technica: You say the US political system is essentially broken. Given that it is so broken, what would you say the odds are of you winning?

Lawrence Lessig: Reform can still win. The part of the system that is most broken is Congress. We still have the ability to elect a president. And if we elect a president with a super-mandate to demand Congress fix itself, I will do everything possible to make sure Congress does fix itself. Nothing’s guaranteed—except that the probability that I succeed at this as a single-purpose president is much, much greater than the probability that an ordinary president might succeed at this.

Ars: Who is your VP candidate? Seems like the platform you are running on makes this nominee even more important than yourself. Would you agree with that?

Lessig: I wouldn’t agree that she's “more important,” but certainly critically important. She should be selected based on the views of the Democratic Party, expressed through national polls and at the convention. My hope is that she is someone who can rally the Democratic base.

Ars: This is a question from one of my colleagues: Isn't at least one candidate, Sanders, in favor of public financing and campaign finance reform? If so, what is the point of your single-issue campaign?

Lessig: The question isn’t just what policies a candidate supports. If that were the question, we’d have climate change, a public option for health care, immigration reform, background checks on guns, etc., etc., etc. The question instead is also: What is the plan to get that policy enacted?

What every presidency since Clinton teaches us is that presidents promise reform, and then fail to act on it. That’s not weakness. It’s structural. A regular president cannot take on Congress. It will take a president with a super-mandate. That’s what the referendum presidency is meant to achieve.

Ars: Campaign finance reform clearly is not a bipartisan issue. How are you going to get the GOP interested in this issue? And is this why you are running as a Democrat? In fact, given your platform, why have you chosen a party?

Lessig: Two words: Donald Trump. Until Donald Trump, it’s true that among GOP insiders in DC, corruption wasn’t an issue. After Donald Trump, it is as much a question for Republicans as Democrats: How can we have a Congress free to lead?

I wish there were a way to run as an independent. But the two parties have made that essentially impossible—at least to win. No doubt I could split the vote of the Democratic Party, but I have no desire to Nader this election.

Ars: You say you have generated $1 million in funding. And it's gonna take a lot more. Do you think you might change your mind and begin accepting contributions from corporations, unions, and government contractors?

Lessig: Not a chance.

Ars: Will you hold your vice presidential nominee to the same fundraising and other standards as yourself?

Lessig: Yes.

Ars: Does your copyleft past help or hurt your presidential bid?

Lessig: Whatever you call it, I have the right position on copyright—namely, that it is essential, but needs to be updated to the digital age. If people want to challenge that position, then I’d have to make fair use of the words of Harry Callahan: “Go ahead, make my day."

Ars: If you had a chance to pick a Supreme Court nominee, who would it be?

Lessig: A person of empathy and knowledge, who could balance the perspectives of others on the Court.

Ars: What type of crimes or sentences do you think you might commute?

Lessig: The unjust ones.

Ars: If elected, how would you deal with the war on terror?

Lessig: I would want a president to walk us back to a place where the world would respect us because we are good as well as powerful. Decency and compassion first. Or maybe, finally.

Ars: Do you have any ideas for executive orders you might render if elected?

Lessig: Every order that might increase the chances of the CEA being enacted.

Ars: Open-ended question. Any other non-obvious thoughts or ideas you'd like to share about yourself if you were a sitting president?

Lessig: Think about the principle—a representative democracy—sitting as president, not me. I’m just the advocate.