Anti-Hillary '1984' ad creator once lived with Obama spokesman
The creator of the viral "Hillary 1984" video that sparked controversy between the presidential campaigns of Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama at one time lived with at least one member of Obama's staff. A photograph obtained by RAW STORY showing former Blue State Digital consultant Phil De Vellis with current Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt conflicted with a claim by Senator Obama that his campaign had "no way of knowing who this person was."
The below photo, shot in Ohio in 2006, includes from left Chris Stelmarski, Ben LaBolt, and Phil de Vellis. De Vellis was the creator of the 'Hillary 1984' advertisement, which spoofed a famous Apple Computers commercial and celebrated Senator Barack Obama as an alternative to Senator Hillary Clinton. LaBolt currently serves as Senator Obama's Press Secretary in Washington, DC. The three worked and lived together in Ohio during the successful 2006 campaign to elect Rep. Sherrod Brown to the Senate.
The photo appeared to question a key claim made by Senator Barack Obama in an interview with Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun Times published yesterday. Obama said his campaign had no way of knowing anything about De Vellis.
"Obviously, as I said before we have no idea who this person was, we have no way of knowing who this person was," the Senator said. "He doesn’t work for us and my understanding is that the vendor had a policy of not doing this kind of stuff and as a consequence he has left. So, I think that is the end of the story."
LaBolt did not respond to RAW STORY inquiries for comment. But when asked about his former roommate by the Sun Times' Sweet, he would only say in today's paper that "the Obama campaign and its employees had no knowledge and had nothing to do with the creation of the ad."
Stelmarski also did not reply to specific questions e-mailed to him at press time.
Obama's campaign offered only a dismissive response when asked if members of the campaign had encouraged the viral video, or assisted in its distribution in any way.
"Like most everyone else in the world, we’ve moved on to other issues," said Bill Burton, a Chicago-based spokesman for Obama's campaign.
On March 21, Phil De Vellis admitted in a Huffington Post blog that he was the creator of the Hillary '1984' advertisement that had been circulating around the internet since March 5 via YouTube.
"I made the 'Vote Different' ad because I wanted to express my feelings about the Democratic primary, and because I wanted to show that an individual citizen can affect the process," he wrote. "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."
He stated that he had resigned from Blue State Digital, where he worked, while the company maintained that he had been 'terminated.'
"Pursuant to company policy regarding outside political work or commentary on behalf of our clients or otherwise, Mr. de Vellis has been terminated from Blue State Digital effective immediately," wrote Thomas Gensemmer, Managing Director, at the firm's website.
Today, the Los Angeles Times also revealed that De Vellis had worked on software for the Obama campaign's website while still with Blue State Digital.
"I designed the MyBarack Obama toolbox that is on the front page and all the sidebar pages," wrote De Vellis in a Feb. 10 e-mail.
Blue State Digital claimed that the 'toolbox' "was generic and used by other clients, and said De Vellis "did not work on the Obama account," according to the Times.
An additional screen capture from Stelmarski's Facebook profile, with both he and De Vellis named, is provided below.
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