Sweet blog special: Behind the Clinton/Obama YouTube ad: The mysterious "ParkRidge47." Who are you?

WASHINGTON–The hunt is on for ParkRidge47,” the e-mail of the anonymous creator of that pro-Obama/anti-Clinton hit ad on YouTube. Who is ParkRidge47—a “hactivist,” a political prankster or a political pro?

Park Ridge. Where Hillary Rodham Clinton was raised. 1947. The year she was born.

Want to hear from “ParkRidge47?.” Micah Sifry over at techpresident tracked down the e-mail of the ad poster and exchanged e-mails.

Read Sifry’s article at http://www.techpresident.com/node/130

Sifty writes:

The first piece of voter-generated video to make a splash in Campaign 2008 has hit, and with it comes a mystery. Is “Vote Different” really the work of an amateur, a civilian if you will? Or is it a shrewd move by someone who wants to stir up trouble between the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama campaigns? After all, comparing Hillary to Big Brother, droning on about her “conversation” with America and portraying her supporters as silent automatons is hardly what Obama supporters want to say about the former First Lady. Or is it?

Read all of Sifry at his site. For a sampling from “ParkRidge47” e-mail to Sifry, click below

This from “ParkRidge47” in response to Sifry e-mail earlier this month…..

“Thank you for your interest in the video. It has been amazing to watch it explode on the viral scene. At one point it was the #3 most watched video on YouTube and is at 108,000 views and growing.

Considering Hillary Clinton’s biggest video has only received 12,000 views on YouTube, I’d say the grassroots has won the first round.

The idea was simple and so was the execution. Make a bold statement about the Democratic primary race by culture jacking a famous commercial and replacing as few images as possible. For some people it doesn’t register, but for people familiar with the ad and the race it has obviously struck a chord.