ASHLAND — In 2014, 14-year-old Nassem Al-Mehairi wrote a letter to former President Bill Clinton thanking him for his accomplishments and for inspiring the teen to enter the political realm.
Clinton wrote back a hand-signed letter, explaining he wanted to inspire the people of Al-Mehairi’s generation to continue to fight for the advancement of economic and racial opportunity.
“He said everything we fight for has to happen through generational change,” Al-Mehairi said.
Earlier this year, the Clinton Foundation reached out to the Ashland resident because Clinton kept his letter among others that inspired him and gave him hope for America.
The foundation spent five hours in the Ashland University Library discussing how Clinton’s two terms as president inspired Al-Mehairi for a video that would introduce Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s husband during the Democratic National Convention
“My mother always taught me to believe in rights for every American. Education is important and we need to strengthen foreign policy,” the now 16-year-old said. “What I was trying to get across was even though we all have different viewpoints, (Bill) Clinton helped reconcile those different viewpoints to help fix the country.”
Al-Mehairi has been an active asset for the Ashland Democratic party. In 2012 he volunteered for President Barack Obama’s re-election and Sherrod Brown’s campaign.
“I really don’t think I would have had this opportunity without all Clinton has done for me,” Al-Mehairi said. “I really want to start out serving in the state department.
“I want to help make a country which can give every citizen an opportunity to live their best life story — whatever path that takes me.”
After Al-Mehairi’s video was recorded, John Boyer’s Honey Haven Farm got a visit from the same videographers. Boyer said they were looking for rural shots for the same video to introduce Clinton’s Tuesday night speech.
“They took shots of me walking the field, walking back, riding the tractor with my grandson, finally they asked me questions,” Boyer said. “They said, ‘We ought to talk to you, you have opinions.”
Boyer said he was happy with how the video turned out, especially after being worried how it could affect the way he is perceived in a conservative community.
“People joke about how I’m the only Democratic farmer in town. When we find another one, people say, ‘Oh, there’s two of you now,’ ” he quipped.
Boyer said because of his work schedule he has little time to help during campaigns so he was happy to help out in this video. He is also hosting an Ashland Democratic Party dinner next month.
“It’s the small things we can do,” he said. “I’m much better at the background stuff.”
