Campaign finance expert Richard L. Hasen is author of The Voting Wars: From Florida 2000 to the Next Election Meltdown, writer of the Election Law Blog, and a professor of law and political science at University of California, Irvine. Before participating in a panel on the cost of U.S. elections, he confessed in the Zócalo green room that before he became a law school professor, he was nearly a law school dropout—and that chocolate is his kryptonite.
Q:
What’s your favorite constellation?
A:
I’ll name Orion, but I have no idea. It’s the only one I know.
Q:
As a kid, what did you spend your allowance on?
A:
Comic books and baseball cards.
Q:
What do you wish you had the nerve to do?
A:
Ski like my wife does.
Q:
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
A:
Write a lot, but don’t write crap.
Q:
If you could vote in another country besides the U.S., which would you choose?
A:
Any democracy that has nonpartisans running their elections.
Q:
Which country would be the most fun?
A:
Australia, because it’s fun to be in Australia.
Q:
What’s the last great book you read?
A:
It’s a book by five political scientists on how lobbying works: Lobbying and Policy Change: Who Wins, Who Loses, and Why. That’s kind of an odd thing to say, but it’s really a great book. I read a lot of books but few of them fit into the “great” category.
Q:
What’s your least favorite thing about blogging?
A:
It’s like having a fourth child. The blog always wants more, and during the election season it consumes every free waking moment.
Q:
What’s the hardest choice you’ve ever had to make?
A:
Whether to drop out of law school after three days.
Q:
Why did you want to drop out?
A:
I felt like it was going from being a colleague of professors to being in kindergarten. I vowed never to treat my law students like they were in kindergarten.
Q:
What dessert can’t you resist?
A:
Generally anything with chocolate—like a chocolate budino or a chocolate soufflé.
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