This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, July 22, 2009 - A couple weeks ago, Libertarian Mike Ferguson's radio show touched off a furor over some musings by a guest -- U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Strafford -- about whether it had been wise for the federal government to get involved in providing health care 40-odd years ago with Medicare and Medicaid.
But as of today, Ferguson is no longer a Libertarian and he's no longer on the political fence in next year's U.S. Senate contest. He's now a Republican and he's endorsing Blunt for the post to be vacated by retiring Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, R-Mo.
Said Ferguson in a statement on his website, and circulated by Blunt and the state GOP:
"After over fourteen years as an active member of the Libertarian Party, I have decided to change my political affiliation. I am joining the Republican Party.
"My principles and beliefs have not changed. I am for cutting unneeded government spending. I am a fiscal conservative who believes that government should stay out of the private sector as much as possible. I am pro-life. I am a believer in the common-sense truth that protecting personal freedom should be the goal of government at all levels.
"This is also why I am supporting Roy Blunt for the United States Senate. Roy Blunt reached out to me and he has been listening and reaching out to people in all parties. Roy believes in conservative principles and I am looking forward to helping him win this campaign."
Ferguson, 37, said in an interview today that he'd been mulling over the switch for some time, and was recently approached by Blunt. "I came to the final conclusion a little over a week ago," he said.
Ferguson's charge is to "reach out to the part of the Republican base that feels abandoned."
By that he means the predominantly young GOP element who flocked to the renegade presidential bid last year of Ron Paul, a Texas congressman who opposed the war in Iraq.
Ferguson said he hopes to get involved in starting up a Missouri faction of the national Republican Liberty Caucus, which more closely reflects the Libertarian view of less government on all levels -- from lower taxes to fewer laws governing personal behavior like drug use.
Ferguson emphasized that he had never fully embraced all of the Libertarian Party's stands when it came to avoiding social-conservative issues like abortion.
In any case, Ferguson said he'd opted against attending last weekend's national Libertarian Party meeting in St. Louis because he knew he was about to switch.
Ferguson said there are no plans for him to join Blunt's staff or get on any Republican payroll.
He's a radio broadcaster and also operates a public-relations firm, Focal Point Communications. In April, Ferguson was elected to the Grandview Board of Aldermen in suburban Kansas City.
He has been active in Missouri Libertarian politics for several years. Last year, he was the National Field Director for former Congressman Bob Barr's Libertarian Presidential campaign.
Says Ferguson's bio:
"In 2004, he was the Libertarian Party's nominee for Lieutenant Governor in Missouri and is a former member of the Missouri Libertarian Executive Committee. In 2008, Mike was selected to receive the Libertarian National Committee’s Thomas Paine Award for excellence in political outreach and communicating the message of liberty and smaller government.
Said Blunt in a statement: "I want to personally welcome Mike Ferguson to the Republican Party and to our campaign. In my conversations with Mike we talked about his commitment to the conservative movement for freedom and the importance of having an inclusive campaign regardless of Party. We discussed the importance of reaching out to Libertarians and others who are concerned about Washington's out of control taxing, out of control spending and out of control debt and borrowing. I believe Mike's decision shows that our campaign and the Republican Party are serious about reaching out to people who believe as we do in Missouri's common sense conservative values and principles.... "
