Actor Hill Harper drums up support for Obama

"I'm tired of business as usual, that's why I'm here," said Hill Harper.

This is what brought Hill Harper, one of the stars of the television show CSI: NY to UNH on Sunday afternoon to voice his support for Barack Obama. Harper spoke of a need for change in the current political agenda, and felt that change could be accomplished by electing Obama as the next president.

A friend of Obama's since their days at Harvard Law School, Harper brought his personal message to an audience of about 50 in MUB Theater I. He also met with a smaller group of students beforehand to have a one on one discussion about issues in the upcoming election.

Harper continually stressed the importance of support for Obama in New Hampshire.

"Obviously I'm here for my friend Barack," said Harper. "The reason I am here is because New Hampshire is critical. All of the other states do not matter if we don't deliver NH." He then went on to say, "New Hampshire will decide the presidency… period."

Though the audience was small, Harper spoke to the attendants as an important ally in Obama's campaign.

"New Hampshire is a relatively small state in terms of population. A room of this size can control the election. UNH itself can control the entire election in this state," said Harper. "I want to be here because I believe and I know that Barack Obama is critical and his winning is critical for us to move forward."

A personal relationship with Obama allowed Harper to speak from a different perspective than many of his other supporters. He portrayed Obama as a genuine, "regular" guy and a capable candidate.

"People bring up experience. Experience does not equal good judgment," said Harper. "Look at his past as a community organizer. I want someone who is good at that."

According to Harper, Obama is, "the most authentic candidate in the race, from either party."

Another aspect of Obama that Harper stressed was the fact that his personal wealth does not stack up to many other candidates.

Harper repeated several times that "He's the only candidate who is not a multi- multi- multi- multi- multi- multi- millionaire," said Harper. "Having money doesn't make you a bad person, but we are in a place in this country where the wealthy control money and politics. It's time to support candidates that don't."

Harper then explained that Obama's money comes from several individual donors rather than big corporations.

"Barack has more individual donors across the country than any presidential candidate in history. He has more individual donors than all of the Republican candidates combined. The people will be who put him in office, not big business," said Harper, which brought applause from the relatively quiet audience.

Also, Harper directly addressed one of the issues surrounding Obama's campaign: Barack Obama is African American.

"That is the number one big elephant in the room, electing an African American candidate. New Hampshire has less than a 2 percent African American population," said Harper. "If we win New Hampshire, it takes that question off of people's minds."

The event was cut short because Harper was late for previous commitments to film his television show in Los Angeles.

"I was kind of disappointed by the short presentation, I wanted to hear more of him," said sophomore Ethan Thomas. "I wanted more intimate conversation, but other than that I think he pitched his ideas well."

Thomas attended the event to learn more about one of the candidates, from a more personal perspective.

"What brought me out here was to see the difference between the candidates. I'm still trying to figure out who to vote for," said Thomas. "Before, I didn't really know the differences. But this does make me more interested in Obama."

Adam Entrehil, a junior who volunteers with UNH Students for Barack Obama was also disappointed by the length of the presentation, but enjoyed Harper's speech.

"He did a good job making the case for Barack for president in the short amount of time that he had," said Entrehil. "He laid out the ground and the qualities that make him an electable candidate."

The event was brought to campus by UNH Students for Barack Obama and the Black Student Union.

UNH Students for Barack Obama was formed in February of last year after Obama made a town hall style speech on campus. According to John Barriere, the president of UNH Students for Barack Obama, support on campus has continued to grow.

"It's going fantastic. This year it kicked off immediately and we grew like 1,000 percent," said Barriere.

UNH Students for Barack Obama meet every Wednesday at 8:30 in MUB room 302. According to Barriere, the meetings are open to anyone who wants to learn more.