This Friday, Rick Perry lost my vote.

Why? Because I had the unique opportunity to hear him speak, or should I say make a fool of himself, to a small, but extremely attentive group. He was the luncheon speaker at the National Editorial Writers Conference, which was held this past weekend at the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas.

This is a particularly relevant group, considering Perry’s refusal to sit for editorial boards since the beginning of the campaign. This, arguably, was his chance to redeem himself in front the audience that he has snubbed since he hit the campaign trail.

Did he take advantage of the opportunity? Absolutely not. After a 20 minute speech that did nothing but bullet point the details of Texas’ superiority to other states, he told the audience that he had “no time” to answer questions. All of us would have understood his busy schedule, if that were actually the case.

Instead of rushing off to his next event, he worked the room for 20 minutes and did a camera interview in front of all of us. Clearly he had time for questions he could monitor, but not questions from an audience that might challenge him.

The president of the National Conference of Editorial Writers sent Perry a letter detailing how unhappy we were with his behavior. When his office got word of this, their response was that Perry wanted to spend time answering questions from the people of Texas, not from editorial writers from across the nation.

But is Perry answering questions from the people of Texas? I would argue no. News organizations are the ones that give information to the people of this state, and his refusal to talk to them in any real capacity prevents a legitimate flow of information.  Additionally, his flat-out refusal to debate also makes it hard to believe that he wants to make himself open to the queries of Texas voters.

He says that his refusal to debate is because Bill White won’t release his tax records from the time he spent at an appointed position in the White House, but that’s absurd and is only an attempt to change the subject instead of get real answers.

Perry has been in elected office for 25 years. He has never lost an election. Now he faces a real opponent in Bill White, and instead of facing questions about his governorship head on, he runs away with his tail between his legs. He is the longest standing governor in Texas’ history. Does he really feel so threatened by the presence of White that he fears debating in a public forum and answering to editorial boards?

His refusal to answer to the people of Texas screams of hypocrisy and untruths. He has asked the White campaign on several occasions what they have to hide since they refuse to release his tax records, but on the same token, what does Perry have to hide? I personally see refusing to debate and to answer questions as being more reclusive than not releasing tax records from years ago.

It is the job of politicians to answer to their people. If Perry refuses to answer tough questions, then he isn’t doing that. It is his job to prove to you why he is better than his opposing candidate, and show you that he deserves to continue his term as the longest running Texas governor. In my opinion, he hasn’t.

Does he feel that he is above our silly questions? Maybe. Is he scared that his popularity points will drop because he won’t be able to cope with being put in the hot seat? Most definitely.

I am of the opinion that when the people we have elected to office become career politicians looking out for their own instead of for the people they represent, they should be gone. That is absolutely what Perry has become. Because of this, I will not be voting for Perry to continue his stretch as Texas governor.

Jessica Huseman is a junior journalism and political science double major. She can be reached for comments or questions at [email protected].