At the end of the day, the political parties have to DRAW people to their candidates, not just push them away from the alternative. That is what is missing in all of these hindsight looks at 2006. Stop berating those that "sat out". They didn't affect as much of the outcome as those that weren't drawn to a candidate. As you said, it's a numbers game. The GOP exemplified what they were accused of being by the Dems and the MSM, so they had no effective defense. They deserved to lose because they first lost their way as the governing party.
At the end of the day, the political parties have to DRAW people to their candidates, not just push them away from the alternative. No they don't. Either works, truth be told. We have a winner-take-all system and thus 2 major parties. Push or pull, both can work.
Stop berating those that "sat out". They didn't affect as much of the outcome as those that weren't drawn to a candidate.
They affected the outcome precisely the same: not at all. Sitting out, "not drawn", whatever - if you don't vote, it's the same thing. The difference is that many of these people who "sat out" would have likely voted Republican if they had voted; whereas, those in the general public who just "weren't drawn to" anyone could have flipped either way.