2 out of 3 Americans may vote against their current member of Congress

A new poll shows the highest level of discontent with Washington in decades

Published July 21, 2011 2:22PM (EDT)

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the Republican Study Committee chairman, far left, leaves the Capitol with fellow House GOP members after passage of the conservative deficit reduction plan known as "Cut, Cap and Balance" that prevailed 234-190, in Washington, Tuesday, July 19, 2011.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (AP)
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, the Republican Study Committee chairman, far left, leaves the Capitol with fellow House GOP members after passage of the conservative deficit reduction plan known as "Cut, Cap and Balance" that prevailed 234-190, in Washington, Tuesday, July 19, 2011. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (AP)

A new Washington Post/ABC News poll finds that nearly two-thirds of registered voters say they plan to "look around" to vote for someone other than their current member of Congress in 2012. Just 32 percent say they're content to vote for their incumbent.

This is the highest level of dissatisfaction with Washington ever seen in Post/ABC polling, which dates back to 1989, notes the Post's Chris Cillizza. A striking 80 percent of all respondents said they were either dissatisfied or angry about the way Washington works.

This discontent -- although spread almost evenly across party lines -- is more likely to more negatively impact Republicans, says Cillizza, simply because they are the majority party in the House.

 


By Natasha Lennard

Natasha Lennard is an assistant news editor at Salon, covering non-electoral politics, general news and rabble-rousing. Follow her on Twitter @natashalennard, email nlennard@salon.com.

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