CONCORD, N.H. – In an age where American politics is built around money, there’s one man running for the top job who believes that does not have to be the case.
Twenty-one candidates have filed to place their names on the 2024 New Hampshire Presidential Primary ballot, and one of those candidates is John Vail, a man who sees himself less as a candidate than a placeholder for a movement he believes is necessary in U.S. politics.
Vail, a resident of Easton, NH, does not expect to become president or even attract many votes in the primary. Instead, his goal is to raise awareness about the undue impact of money in politics and how it harms the American public.
For Vail, the question isn’t “who” the candidate is for an elected office, but “what” they are and what they represent.
“I’m trying to get people to say that we want to get money out of politics and we want this to be done so much, so badly, we just want to vote on that and we don’t care who we vote for because it’s not about who, it’s about what and that what is getting money out of politics,” he said.
Vail says that he has talked to people across the political spectrum who agree the voice of the average American has been diluted by those with disproportionate power in the political process through their use of money to influence the nation’s policies.
He also chafes at the idea that has arisen from the Citizens United ruling that political spending is a form of speech, believing that money has been used by the rich as a weapon to harm the poor and that debating the idea is nonsensical.
“If you stand on my foot and then say we should have a civil debate about it, I am not going to agree to have a civil debate with you, I am going to tell you to get off my foot,” he said regarding the concept of political spending being protected under the First Amendment.
Vail does not expect to achieve ballot access for president in any other states, but he hopes his message can be spread to candidates on the ballots elsewhere in the country, including those not running for president.
“The money in politics problem cannot be solved in Washington, because (Washington’s) whole reason for being is getting money,” he said.
While incumbent U.S. President Joe Biden is not one of those 21 candidates that will be on the ballot, an unauthorized write-in campaign has arisen given that Biden has declined to run in New Hampshire after the Democratic National Committee’s sanctions on the state for not falling within its nominating calendar.
Vail does not support former U.S. President Donald Trump, but sees Biden as vulnerable if he does become the Democratic Party’s nominee in 2024 given his current poll numbers and a lack of transparency and inclusiveness within the nomination process.
While Vail will not accept campaign contributions given the raison d’etre of his campaign, more information on his campaign can be found at sendnomoney.org