Can Chambers of Commerce Legally Advocate for Candidates for Public Office?

Recently there has been a buzz in the community about whether to not the local Chambers of Commerce can legally advocate for or against candidates for public office. 

First of all, we need to look to the Internal Revenue Service as to the legality.  Chambers of Commerce are not charitable organizations which are organized under Internal Revenue Code sec. 501(c)(3).  Such charitable organization under 501(c)(3) are prohibited from engaging in supporting or opposing candidates.

Chambers of Commerce, however, are organized under Internal Revenue Code sec. 501(c)(6).

Pursuant to Internal Revenue Code sec. 501(c)(6), Chambers of Commerce, which are organized thereunder, may engage in political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to candidates for public office provided that such intervention does not constitute the organization's primary activity.  Clearly as it relates to our local chambers, they are not organized solely to promote candidates and that is clearly not our local chambers' primary activity. 

Today and in The Union, Keith Davies stated as follows:  "'We cannot, we will not and we never will endorse any candidates.'"  As such, it is clear that our local chambers have, quite forcefully I might add, declined to exercise their legal right to support or oppose candidates for public office, but that is the free choice of the chambers and not a legal mandate.

The argument advanced by our local left appears to be that if you belong to a chamber or if you are involved with the management of a chamber, you are prohibited from exercising your individual constitutional right to support a particular candidate.  The argument is completely invalid on a few levels.  First, affiliation with any group does not preclude being involved in politics.  Second, the groups about which the local left is complaining are not even engaging in their legal right to participate in politics.  Third, nothing on God's green Earth prohibits the owner of a building that is located near a chamber of commerce to exercise his or her constitutional and individual right to hang a humorous sign in support of a candidate.

Mayor Dan Miller hit the nail on the head today when he said in The Union, "'It's the state of local politics that people are looking for anything to criticize.'"

Especially when these complaining individuals are criticizing in an effort to support their chosen candidate.  The buzz created by the local left is really one of the reasons that good people hesitate to become elected public servants and is a sad commentary on the level of the political debate. 

Let this community debate the issues and not engage in petty politics...or am I asking too much?