Wallison is new chair of Pitkin County GOP
The Aspen Times
Aspen, CO Colorado
PITKIN COUNTY ” This past year has been full of stories about Americans inspired by the presidential election to become more involved in the political process.
Old Snowmass resident Frieda Wallison is one of them.
Moved by her passion for Republican nominee John McCain, Wallison recently agreed to co-chair McCain’s Pitkin County campaign.
“I think this election presents pretty stark contrasts between the two candidates,” she said, noting that such difference has catalyzed people like her who truly believe McCain would be the better choice.
In February, Wallison also agreed to chair Precinct Eight. At the state convention, she was chosen as an alternate to the national convention. And today, she finds herself the recently elected chair of the Pitkin County Republican Party.
Wallison has been a lifelong Republican, though she admits to voting for a Democratic Nominee once ” George McGovern, in 1972 ” and comes from a long line of Republicans, she said. But until now, she explained, she has been “somewhat on the periphery,” of local party activity.
However, this year she found herself compelled by what she describes as McCain’s “principles, courage, and ability to make decisions in a way that has to do with whether the decision is right for the country rather than whether it is right for him.” So for months, she has been working nonstop for McCain and by extension, the Republican Party.
But she points out that she’s not alone, calling the support from fellow Pitkin County Republicans “tremendous” and “extremely heartening.”
And she notes that Pitkin County is a great place to perform one of the main jobs of those involved in local party politics ” poll watcher ” calling those at the county clerk’s office extremely fair and professional.
“Every citizen in Pitkin County can take a great deal of comfort that there are these dedicated public servants working so hard to make this process fair,” she said.
Once Nov. 4 has passed, Wallison hopes to have time to start thinking about goals and direction for the local branch of the Republican Party. But for now, she just wants to work as hard as she can in the next few days to make sure McCain is elected.
But she is clear about one thing ” she won’t be trying to forward a personal agenda.
“I didn’t accept the chair because I had a grand vision of where we wanted to go,” she said. “I accepted with a sense of duty and responsibility to the party.”
