I am here because of Ashley 

Origin: in reference to Ashley Baia, a Barack Obama supporter.

Now used in reference to Barack Obama's "A More Perfect Union" speech given in Philadelphia on March 18th, 2008.

The individual using the phrase is likely trying to convey that they are where they are or they support who they support because they are inspired not by the candidate or a single issue, though they may be in some part, but rather because of the dedication of other supporters. Transcending all other societal barriers.

For the moment this is strictly in reference to Barack Obama supporters, but if the phrase falls into the lexicon, it will likely come to mean others as well.

The following example is an excerpt is from Barack Obama's March 18th, 2008 speech on race relations in the United States:

"There is a young, 23-year-old white woman named Ashley Baia who organized for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She had been working to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this campaign, and one day she was at a roundtable discussion where everyone went around telling their story and why they were there.

And Ashley said that when she was 9 years old, her mother got cancer. And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that's when Ashley decided that she had to do something to help her mom.

She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. Because that was the cheapest way to eat.

She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told everyone at the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need to help their parents, too.

Now Ashley might have made a different choice. Perhaps somebody told her along the way that the source of her mother's problems were blacks who were on welfare and too lazy to work, or Hispanics who were coming into the country illegally. But she didn't. She sought out allies in her fight against injustice.

Anyway, Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they're supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they come to this elderly black man who's been sitting there quietly the entire time.

And Ashley asks him why he's there. And he does not bring up a specific issue. He does not say health care or the economy. He does not say education or the war. He does not say that he was there because of Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone in the room, "I am here because of Ashley.""

I am here because of Ashley by An Election Watcher March 19, 2008