GOLDEN MAN ON N.H. BALLOT

GOLDEN - Ever since he was a boy, Vincent Hamm dreamed of becoming
president of the United States.

Now 40 and the owner of a small computer consulting business, Hamm
continues to pursue the dream from his Golden home, which doubles as the
"Hamm for President'' campaign headquarters.

Hamm, a Democrat, ran in the 1996 New Hampshire primary and received 72
votes - compared with 76,754 for President Clinton.

He was not discouraged by the lopsided showing.

"I was very pleased. My goal when I woke up the morning after the primary
was not to have a zero next to my name,'' he said. "I was just amazed at
the number of votes I received.''

The candidate, who has never held public office, also will be on the New
Hampshire primary ballot in February.

It's the only state primary in which he runs because he can't afford to run
in others, he said.

"I have intentions but no money,'' said Hamm. "I don't expect to get any
funding. It is difficult in that anything that I do spend comes out of my
pocket.''

It cost $1,000 to register on the New Hampshire ballot.

Even though the odds are stacked against him, Hamm won't throw in the towel.

When talking about his plans for the presidency, Hamm prefaces many
statements with: "If elected . . .''

The candidate was raised in Golden and received a degree in philosophy with
a minor in math and English from the University of Colorado. He's been a
member of the Greater Denver Chamber of Commerce and the Governor's Small
Business Council, among other civic organizations.

Hamm gets involved in local issues, and he's addressed the county
commissioners several times over the years, he said.

As president, Hamm would make a balanced budget his first priority.

Next is his much more controversial platform: Decriminalizing drugs.

"The main reason why drugs are such big business is because there is a huge
profit in selling them. Decriminalizing drugs would eliminate the danger,
profit and intrigue in importing them to our country, thus lowering the
cost of the substance. The money that now goes into the pockets of drug
lords would go into the pocket of every American,'' Hamm contends on his
Web site at www.h4p.org.

"There is a significant amount of money leaving the American economy each
year to drugs - in some cases this amount has been nearly equal to the
annual inflation rate.''

Hamm - who says he does not take drugs - would slap a heavy tax on drugs
and use the money to fund substanceabuse programs and reduce the federal
deficit.

Decriminalizing drugs would not make them legal, instead they would be
controlled substances like alcohol and tobacco, he said.

Hamm said he'd fight to see that First Amendment rights carry over into
cyberspace, and he'd try to improve "technological accessibility across
class lines'' by getting computers into more lower-income homes.

Hamm said he's running "because I can. There is no other country in the
world where any citizen can aspire to the highest office. That is a
privilege that we have.''

He said his family - his wife, mother and a brother - support him, and that
support keeps him optimistic. "If I increase my vote count tenfold every
time I run in a primary, 2008 is my year.''