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."
He added that he made the ad "on a Sunday afternoon in my apartment using my personal equipment (a Mac and some software), uploaded it to YouTube and sent links around to blogs." He said the "underlying point was that the old political machine no longer holds all the power."
"The game has changed," De Vellis wrote.
In its statement, Blue State Digital said, "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."
Blue State Digital was founded by techies who worked on Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign. It is viewed as one of the top Internet firms working for Democrats.
The company has provided technology, software development and hosting for Obama's campaign, and one of the firm's founding partners has taken a leave to work for Obama. According to the company's statement, De Vellis initially refused to respond to Huffington, but later acknowledged that he had created the video.
"Mr. De Vellis created this video on his own time. It was done without the knowledge of management, and was in no way tied to his work at the firm or our formal engagement [on technology pursuits] with the Obama campaign," the company statement said.
Meanwhile, a spot that rips off the anti-Clinton ad and lampoons Obama continues to attract attention. Its creator remains unknown.
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dan.morain@latimes.com
