Ferguson vs. Pallone

New Jersey's 6th District

"One of the institutions founded in response to the exclusion of religion and religious values from American public life is the Catholic Campaign for America, headed by Executive Director Michael Ferguson. Though America's approximately 60 million Catholics now constitute the nation's largest single religious voting bloc, a distinctively Catholic voice in American politics has not emerged. Ferguson thinks that organizations like his could begin to change that, not by appealing specifically to electoral politics, but by energizing Catholics to be active in their faith and lives."

If the organization and the man sound familiar, it's because this quotation is from a profile of young Mike Ferguson and the Catholic Campaign for America that appeared in HUMAN EVENTS "Conservative Spotlight," Aug. 9, 1996. For several years, Ferguson has been familiar to conservatives on the national scene as one of their champions on the cultural front. Abortion, euthanasia, school choice, religious liberty and human rights, including the religious persecution and massacre of Christians in Africa and Asia were subjects Ferguson spoke on and dealt with-"human issues;' as he put it-"which Catholic teaching addresses."

But there is another side to Mike Ferguson. The Notre Dame and Georgetown graduate is a true-to-life version of the never-say-die inner-city school teacher immortalized on screen by Glenn Ford in Blackboard Jungle, Sidney Portier in To Sir With Love, and Sandy Dennis in Up the Down Staircase. Teaching high school and coaching basketball in the Bronx was as much a driving force in Ferguson as was his work with the Catholic Campaign, he said, "because I wanted to show those kids there was a way to get out."

And now, at age 28, Mike Ferguson has a new crusade: trying to take his views to Congress. The youthful conservative is the Republican nominee for the U.S. House in New Jersey's 6th District (Middlesex County-Monmouth) against five-term Democrat Frank Pallone (lifetime American Conservative Union rating: 20%).

With help from wife, Maureen, the fledgling candidate has so stirred traditional political activists that he has raised over $250,000 and inevitably seems to recruit enthusiastic volunteers after addressing small meetings in homes throughout the district. With skills honed in the classroom, Ferguson spells out his vision in brief discourses and animated question-and-answer sessions.

"Conservatives come under fire when they call for shutting down the Department of Education or just say they're for school vouchers, OK?" he tells listeners. "But there's a different way of saying it. If you fundamentally believe that parents and teachers have the most responsibility for educating kids, then you must accept that it's time to get the federal government out of their way and out of the classroom. That means getting the power out of Washington and as close to home as possible. It also means vouchers, but on a state level. What you do in, say, Mississippi, is not appropriate for New Jersey or California."

As he always admonished his students, Ferguson is the first to admit when he lacks all the details about something, never trying to "fake" an answer. "There's a lot wrong with the UN and it's involved in a lot of stuff it shouldn't be," he says. "But I can't claim to be an expert on it. I'm going to learn as much as I can, however, because it's an issue of concern to a lot of voters."

In a state in which cultural conservatism has not exactly been a hot topic, Ferguson freely trumpets his strong pro-life stance. He also vividly contrasts it with the position of Pallone, who switched from pro-life to proabortion following the Supreme Court's Webster decision in 1989 and has consistently opposed a ban on partial-birth abortions.

Self-styled "angry taxpayer" Ferguson also castigates Pallone for his opposition to GOP budgets that include tax and spending cuts and for support of a hike in the minimum wage. "When 40% of all you earn goes to government," Ferguson says, "something's wrong. And, under those circumstances, something's wrong with a congressman who won't vote for an across-the-board tax cut."

For some time, Mike Ferguson has stimulated students in the classroom and thousands of fellow conservatives around the country. Now, if he gets the support he so richly deserves, he has an opportunity to put his beliefs to work in Congress, helping to lead the fight to let families flourish.

(Mike Ferguson for Congress, PO. Box 867, Red Bank, N.J. 07701; 732-530-4742)

Copyright Human Events Publishing, Inc. Jul 17, 1998
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved