The U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce today strongly denied having endorsed the McCain-Palin ticket. On Wednesday of last week, the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain issued a statement saying that "a majority of the board members" has endorsed the GOP presidential ticket. David C. Lizarraga, chair of the Chamber's board of directors, has called on the McCain campaign to issue a public retraction, as that missive "erroneously suggested that the USHCC itself endorsed Senator McCain."
The Chamber today pointed out that it is a nonpartisan organization and does not make political endorsements. In a public statement, Lizarraga said the chamber has not and will not adopt any position on the race between senators McCain and Barack Obama.
According to the Chamber, on October 8 it demanded a retraction from the McCain-Palin campaign, but received no response. Lizarraga stated, "In lieu of such a retraction, we felt the need to publicly disavow their release to avoid any misunderstanding."
He added, "The USHCC has enjoyed a longstanding relationship with both Senators McCain and Obama. Whoever becomes president following the November elections will have our full cooperation in order to ensure that the views of the Hispanic business community are well represented at the policy table."
While not retracting its previous claims, the McCain-Palin campaign issued a new press release today touting the support of "50 influential Hispanic business leaders." Included in that list of 50 leaders were five of the 25 directors from the USHCC's board.
The full text of the statement of the USHCC is appended below:
USHCC Does Not Endorse Candidates
Washington, DC – The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the national representative for approximately 2.5 million Hispanic-owned businesses, today disavowed a press release issued on October 8th by the McCain-Palin campaign claiming that a majority of the Board of Directors of the USHCC endorsed Senator McCain as candidate for President of the United States. The press release erroneously suggested that the USHCC itself endorsed Senator McCain. The press release was not authorized by the USHCC or by all of the individuals cited in the release.
"Let it be clear that the USHCC has made no endorsements of political candidates and our board has not taken a position to endorse any candidate," stated David C. Lizarraga, Chairman of the USHCC Board of Directors.
"As a matter of fairness, we wrote to the McCain-Palin campaign on October 8th urging a retraction. In lieu of such a retraction, we felt the need to publicly disavow their release to avoid any misunderstanding" said Lizarraga.
"The USHCC is a non-partisan organization. The only things we endorse are public policy issues affecting the Hispanic business community," stated Augustine Martinez, President and CEO of the USHCC.
"The USHCC has enjoyed a longstanding relationship with both Senators McCain and Obama. Whoever becomes president following the November elections will have our full cooperation in order to ensure that the views of the Hispanic business community are well represented at the policy table," added Lizarraga.
