Local Mom Creates RepublicanSwitchers.com

By Rachelle Bowden in News on Nov 1, 2004 9:06PM

Celeste Wroblewski, a Chicago mom, started a blog called Republican Switchers while sitting at her iMac, watching Zell Miller, a disaffected Democrat, at the Republican National Convention.

"I knew that for every Zell Miller, there were a dozen conservatives abandoning Bush because of his extreme policies and mistakes," said Celeste. "I had seen the TV spots that Errol Morris, who did the Mac Switcher ads, created about Republicans voting for Kerry and I was disappointed they weren't being aired. I had also received an e-mail with a pro-Kerry column by staunch conservative Charley Reese. So I decided it was time to gather the voices of all these conservative Switchers and let people know about them."

Celeste sent the link to her blog to her friends and family but it wasn't until a group called Mainstreet Moms Oppose Bush linked to her site that it got attention. When Kottke and Ben & Mena Trott linked to her site she got about 150 hits/hour.. and then when electoral-vote.com linked, it went crazy - she's now been getting about 2,000 hits/hour. The rest is history.

This is a great example of how the web is giving anyone and everyone a voice. Celeste was a local woman with a computer and a message and now she's getting national recognition. She says, "I'm just a mom with a Mac who wants to get out the vote for Kerry-Edwards. The Republican Switchers blog allows me to do that from home, after I put my son to bed. More importantly, it gives people an easy message to share with friends and family who are conservative, moderate, or undecided voters: 'You're in good company if you vote for Kerry. He's the choice of many smart people on both sides of the aisle."