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Photo by Donita Clausen click image to enlarge

By FOSS FARRAR
Traveler Staff Writer

Joyce Riley, one of 10 people running nationwide for "American Candidate," a TV reality show, is on the road to New Hampshire.

One candidate was to be eliminated last night, but Riley was given word by the Showtime Channel that she is "made the cut" and is still in the race.

Riley rallied more than 200 people in the Agri-Business Building Tuesday evening, proclaiming that it's time to "bring back the basic rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" to the people and to return more power, now held by the federal government, to the states.

"The government doesn't give us those rights, they need to give us back those rights," Riley told a cheering crowd. "The government's job is to protect those rights, not to take them away."

A diverse crowd from Ark City and surrounding areas showed up for Riley's campaign kick-off and town meeting. They included a large contingent from Creekstone, one of the largest employers in Cowley County, as well as youngsters, senior citizens and civic leaders.

Creekstone Farms personnel served free hamburgers and potato chips to people attending the event. Two camera crews covered the rally -- one from Showtime that has been covering Riley since she arrived in Ark City two days ago and another from a TV station in Wichita.

Riley said she supports Creekstone's efforts to get the U.S. Department of Agriculture to allow the company to test all the cattle it slaughters for mad cow disease.

"We have sick and dying veterans that we shuttle off to the side" after their service in the U.S. military, she said, adding that some veterans must wait months to receive treatment in Veterans Administration hospitals.

Riley said more power now held by the federal government should be returned to the states, and encouraged people to fight for a more open government.

"We shouldn't have a secret government," she said. "You (the people) should be sovereign, not the federal government."

After the brief talk, she took comments and questions from the audience.

One of the participants, Lloyd Berry, a Sacramento, Calif., native who graduated from high school in 1968, and served in the armed forces in Germany during the Vietnam era, wondered why it takes so long for veterans to get hospital treatment.

"It sometimes takes a year to get into the VA (Veterans Administration)," he said.

Another, Roger Fry, from Sallisaw, Okla., said he listened faithfully to Riley on "The Power Hour," a radio show she hosts for the Genesis Network.

Mike Weekley of Ark City complained that the disabled have few living choices because of high costs and little income from disability payments. Many are forced to stay in government-funded nursing homes instead of living independently.

"This tells us we aren't addressing the people's needs in the U.S.," Riley responded. "We'd rather spend money (on a scientific experiment) than on people who desperately need financial help."

Waiting in line for a hamburger before the speech, several people said they were concerned that the crowd wasn't larger. They were told that attendance for the kick-off was a critical factor in whether or not Riley would be eliminated from further competition.

However, Albert Clemente said the crowd was larger than he had expected. "I think the news that there were free hamburgers brought the crowd," he joked.

Riley's mother, Naoma Thompson, said she was relieved that after two days the camera crews had left Ark City and her home, the temporary headquarters for her daughter's campaign.

"(The Showtime crew) were so thrilled with Ark City, and we were too," Thompson said. "They couldn't believe (Joyce and her manager Dan Krisher) could organize the way they did with only 38 hours to plan all that."

Above: Joyce Riley holds a "Classified" document, saying it's time for more openness in government during her rally.