Ah, the cruelty. Veteran lawmakers who toiled for years in Congress waiting for a chance at political promotion have discovered an inconvenient truth: This election year, Washington experience is a career-ender.

Four House members who abandoned their seats to run for governor have failed to survive their party primaries, and the list could grow in the coming weeks. Tennessee Rep. Zach Wamp was the latest to stumble in Thursday’s Republican primary.

Add these losses to the six incumbents who have been defeated in their re-election bids and it signals an electorate sour on Washington.

“People hate Congress,” said nine-term Rep. Pete Hoekstra of Michigan, who was pounded by rivals’ ads about Wall Street bailouts, money for district projects and rising debt in his losing bid for the GOP gubernatorial nomination. “It was a hurdle that had to be overcome, or it was some baggage that you had to carry.”

Recent surveys have shown Americans hold lawmakers in particularly low esteem: Just one in four people said they approved of Congress’ job performance in the most recent Associated Press-GfK poll. Job losses and spiraling debt have left a significant number of Americans certain the country is on the wrong track. The fierce partisanship in Washington has convinced many that a broken government can do little to solve the country’s woes.

The disfavor is evident this election, and both parties have suffered from the anti-establishment sentiment. Four House incumbents and two senators have lost primaries to keep their jobs. Another five have lost bids for governor, including Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, who unlike her House counterparts didn’t give up her day job.

Two former congressmen—Republican Nathan Deal of Georgia and Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii—are battling to win party nods for governor. Deal faces Karen Handel in Tuesday’s runoff.

Michigan’s Hoekstra tried to emphasize his 15 years as a furniture company executive, but it was his 18 years on Capitol Hill that opponents used to pummel him in his second-place finish to Rick Snyder. While Hoekstra doesn’t attribute his loss to the anti-Washington mood alone, he said it was a strong factor.

Snyder’s resume—a venture capitalist and former president of computer maker Gateway Inc.—was more convincing in a state where the faltering economy dominates voters’ concerns.

Read the whole thing here.

Two-thirds of registered voters who responded to a recent survey say the federal stimulus packages has not resulted in the improvement of the Western Illinois economy

The poll, commissioned by QuincyNews.org, was conducted by We Ask America on November 22 between 4:30 PM – 6:30.  In all, 15,000 random residential phone numbers of registered voters in the 17th Congressional District were dialed, resulting in 1,278 people taking the poll. The numbers dialed were randomly selected.

The results have a margin of error of ± 2.74 %.

Of those who responded, 66.7 % say the stimulus package hasn’t improved the economy. Just under 22 percent said there had been an improvement while 11.5 percent were not sure.

The poll also showed a skepticism toward health care reform and also a dissatisfaction with the incumbent 17th District congressman, Democrat Phil Hare of Rock Island.

Pollster Gregg Durham said the data tells him a ‘throw the bums out’ mentality is emerging for 2010.

“This is happening in the rest of the country,” Durham said. “It’s a little stronger in Illinois…this dissatisfaction with politicians with one governor in prison and the last one impeached and in legal trouble. The meter is being pegged in this state.”

“What is very telling is the independents are very strongly against the incumbent. There is a tendency to look for something else. There is a dissatisfaction with an incumbent.

“While even the democrats said they really don’t see the impact of stimulus spending, the real surprise is that the independents broke most closely to the Republican view points,” said Gregg Durham, who conducted the poll.”There’s some programs that we call eyerollers. Health care reform is one of them.”

“The pendulum swings both ways.  When you combine the major economic woes, plus the emotionally charged programs that are being discussed…health care, cap and trade, card check…there is a hastening of that pendulum swing and party affiliation doesn’t matter. “

Durham said the frustration is mounting.

“People are becoming weary,” he said. “They are holding their hands up and asking how we’re going to pay for this, couple that with a bad economy and not enough jobs you have the potential for a quantum shift. “

Click here to go to QuincyNews.org and read the polling information.