Stokes shares beliefs, music

Musician Chad Stokes came to UNH’s Strafford Room on Wednesday, Oct. 17, to campaign on behalf of President Barack Obama for the upcoming election. Stokes is well known for being in the band Dispatch. He is also the frontman for the band State Radio and his solo project Chadwick Stokes.


UNH was the first of three stops on Stokes’s college campaign tour Wednesday. When the clock struck 1 p.m., Stokes entered the Strafford Room with a guitar in hand, and was greeted by enthusiastic cheers and applause from his fans.


Stokes’s presentation consisted of him conveying his political views and telling stories about various things dealing with his music. He spent some time talking about an aspect of the election, and would then go on to play a song that seemed to connect to what he had just spoken about.


It was clear that he believed that Obama’s plan for these issues was a far more effective one than that of former  Gov. Mitt Romney’s.


“One thing that I hope for the future is that less money is spent on defense and more money is spent on education,” Stokes said. “I appreciate Obama’s willingness to talk to leaders and not to be trigger-happy in that sense. To hear Romney say that he’s going to make 15 more battleships, but also cut taxes, you know, it’s all this magic. I don’t know where all the money is going to come from.”

Stokes then entered into the popular Dispatch song “The General.” The crowd went wild and sang along. Stokes also commented on the recent presidential debate. Stokes said, “I thought Romney’s response last night was funny, with the ‘binders full of women.’ I actually enjoyed that response because I was like, ‘Oh man, he’s digging, and he’s in trouble.’”

Stokes’s motivation for visiting colleges in New Hampshire was due to the fact that college students in the state have such a large impact on the election, since New Hampshire is the first state to vote electorally, and because there are a large amounts of students attending state colleges and universities.


Stokes also encouraged joining groups that travel door-to-door and to encourage people to vote Democratic.


Stokes expressed his reaction to students who say they are Republican, saying, “When I hear that young, college-age kids are for Romney, I’m just so eager to talk to them. I just ask, ‘Why?’ It just seems like such a no-brainer to me. I’m just shocked when I talk to Republicans under the age of 40. Now I’m not judging, I’m just so interested. It’s like coming across, I don’t know, an extraterrestrial.”

Stokes also visited Plymouth State University and Dartmouth University on Wednesday.