Getting Campaign Reform Backward

The Democratic candidates for president are trying to outdo one another with their ambitious proposals to reform the campaign-finance system. Yet without one vital change, none of these plans will make any difference.

One candidate, the Harvard professor Lawrence Lessig, says that if elected, he will resign as soon as his reforms are enacted, all but guaranteeing he would serve a full term. Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley all want to stay in office long enough to appoint Supreme Court justices who will overturn the Citizens United decision, which made it easier for corporations to spend money on political campaigns.