Presidential candidate stops in Albert Lea

Staff

Published Thursday, November 29, 2007

By Sarah Light, AlbertLeaTribune.com

In a race filled with dozens of presidential candidates, one lesser-known Michigan father of eight has come forward with a pledge to bring back relevance to the American political process.

Working from the grass-roots level to spread his message, 41-year-old Albert Howard Jr., a Republican, said he wants to take the United States back to what the founding fathers implemented. And he’s planning on doing that while keeping in mind his spiritual heritage as well.

In fact, from the first paragraph on his Web site, he states, “The Angel of the Lord told me in January of 1992 that Hillary Rodham Clinton and I would meet and be running against each other and that she would lose.”

He said he remembers exactly where he was standing — in the Arlington National Cemetery — when he received the message about running for president. And sometimes, when he begins to wonder what he is doing in this race, he said he remembers, “really at the end of the day, my objective is to honor my Heavenly Father.”

“We as Americans cannot separate the spiritual from the physical,” he said.

Having appeared recently in articles by the New York Times and The Washington Post, Howard is clear about his position. He stopped Wednesday at the Tribune for an interview to briefly state his platform.

Commenting on the Iraq War, he said no one has been able to put a real objective on the war.

“My plan would be to absolutely withdraw the troops yesterday,” he said. “I believe they shouldn’t be there. The morale of the nation would be much better if they weren’t there.”

He noted he believes 9/11 was an inside job and that it had nothing to do with Iraq.

Though he doesn’t have a problem with defending the nation, he said he thinks it’s important to go through the correct protocol first to make it happen.

“They’re basically slapping the American public in the face,” Howard said, of the George W. Bush administration. “That’s not the way the protocol of the constitution was set up.”

Regarding health care, he said he believes that 95 percent of all diseases are based on stress.

“You get rid of stress, you get rid of disease,” Howard said. “I believe the federal government shouldn’t be involved in health care. I know — that’s pretty bold for a man with eight kids.”

But other than going to the doctor for emergency situations, he said he thinks the entire “medical industry is a hoax.” This is completely opposite of what candidates such as Clinton are stating should be done.

If elected as president, he said, he would shut down the Federal Reserve System, shut down the Internal Revenue Service and completely withdraw from the United Nations.

This country didn’t have the IRS until 1913, and it did just fine without it, he noted.

While the issues facing the nation are important to him, he said his utmost priority is his family.

“I’m a father, a husband and then a presidential candidate,” Howard said.

Prior to the campaign, he attended the University of Michigan School of Music for voice performance and was a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army Band based out of Fort Myer, Va.

Howard shares his platforms on his Web site, www.alberthoward.org.

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