After calling on her vast army of supporters and contributors, it was only a matter of time before Arianna Huffington was able to identify Philip de Vellis as the creator of the wildly viral (and funny) anti-Hillary commercial everybody is talking about (watch after the jump). It turns out he worked for a firm employed by the Obama camp, though his boss swears he had nothing to do with the account.

The real lesson to be taken from this whole fiasco was spoken by De Vellis himself, shortly after he was fired: “The game has changed.”

Watch it:
Los Angeles Times:

Given that the Internet is all but unregulated and the cost of producing such spots is minimal, the episode is probably a harbinger of what is in store for the 2008 campaign, at least the part that will play out on the Internet.

“The 2008 campaign is going to be dramatically different because of YouTube, because of citizen involvement, and because of people like Phil de Vellis doing an ad that becomes explosively viral,” said Arianna Huffington, who oversees the Huffington Post, which first disclosed De Vellis’ identity.

Huffington exposed De Vellis by urging her contributors to work their contacts to identify ParkRidge47. It took about a day. Huffington wrote Wednesday that she called De Vellis to ask him about the spot and invited him to explain himself, which he did later Wednesday.

De Vellis, who could not be reached by The Times, wrote on Huffington Post: “I did it. And I’m proud of it.”

De Vellis has worked on numerous campaigns, including that of Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who was elected in November.

“There are thousands of other people who could have made this ad, and I guarantee that more ads like it — by people of all political persuasions — will follow,” De Vellis wrote. “This shows that the future of American politics rests in the hands of ordinary citizens.”

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#barack obama#hillary clinton#huffington post#internet#presidential election