Editor’s note: The following is an original ConnellWA.com commentary summarizing an opinion column by Norm Luther of Spokane, first published by Franklin Connection. Views expressed are those of the columnist and are not news reporting by ConnellWA.com.
Why do some voters cast ballots that seem to run against their own economic interests? That long-running question is the starting point of a recent opinion column by Spokane resident Norm Luther, who directs the critique at supporters of U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner.
Luther recalls his father’s view that many people so strongly dream of joining the wealthy that they identify with them and vote accordingly. In Luther’s telling, that dream should be harder to sustain today: he argues economic mobility has diminished, including through what he calls the billionaire-friendly “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which he says Baumgartner championed. Hard work, Luther writes, may no longer guarantee economic security.
He also points to years of partisan gridlock in Washington, D.C. Luther says longtime Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, after vowing to make Democrat Barack Obama a one-term president, opposed measures from Obama and later from Democratic former President Joe Biden that Luther describes as aimed at helping the working class — leaving that class, in his view, justifiably feeling forgotten.
Emotion, not pocketbook math, is Luther’s main explanation for how many voters choose. He contends that many people relate emotionally to President Donald Trump’s angry rhetoric even though, in Luther’s assessment, Trump has not advanced their welfare and — together with congressional Republicans including Baumgartner — has made life harder for them. “Unfortunately, many people vote their emotions, rather than rationally in agreement with their best interests,” Luther writes.
For Baumgartner’s supporters specifically, Luther offers a simpler answer: he believes many have not watched the congressman’s record closely enough to see what Luther calls a sharp gap between what Baumgartner says and how he votes. Luther labels that approach “shrewdly deceitful” — a characterization that is Luther’s opinion, not an established finding.
Luther’s column does not present new legislative vote tallies or independent economic analysis; it is a personal argument about voter psychology and representation in Eastern Washington. Readers seeking the full original text can find it via the source link below.
Sources
- Emotions guiding voters in elections — Norm Luther (Franklin Connection), Aug. 27, 2026
- Same column — The Odessa Record (syndication)
- Same column — The Ritzville Adams County Journal (syndication)
