Say what you want about the GOP win depending upon turnout -- but what if the turnout of 2014 becomes typical for the next two big elections?
Why consider something that's close to impossible? This election had low turnout even by midterm standards. A lot people (disproportionately Democratic) think voting only matters when a president is on the ballot.
Turnout was low in part because of the Orwellian propaganda that the Koch fronts pumped into the airwaves. Until recently the usual contest was between the formal opponents. Now Americans for Prosperity and similar groups unaccountable to any but those who fund them can be counted on to make sure that anyone not in full support of absolute plutocracy gets blindsided.
Maybe voters of 2016 will realize what is at stake and treat the bilge for what it is -- lies, lies, and more lies. Maybe voting behavior of the Millennial Generation (adults born after about 1980) begin having their own candidates on the ballot and run against Hard Right candidates, even incumbents. Minimum age for a US Senator is 30, which means that persons born as late as 1986 will be able to run for Senate seats. People born as late as 1998 will be able to vote. If such people vote in huge numbers, then people with no stake in crony capitalism, cheap labor, brutal management, and environmental degradation will have little cause to vote R.
But 2016 is critical. Democrats will need to win back the Senate... and if the House is unduly unpopular, maybe the House is in play. The last election more inspires nightmares in me than hope. Please excuse that.
