Far as I know, this was predicted, and the long tern future is not looking good either. It will be 2014 before we can begin to turn this around, because most Conservatives are still holding on to their hubris, and the rest of the Republican voter base has forgotten what democrats actually believe and do to the U.S. economic system when in charge of the purse and lawmaking for more than a couple years.
Perhaps, you're right. Many conservatives interpret events to match their ideology. They say Republicans need to stop then illegal invasion and wasteful spending, then Republicans will cruise to victory. But, the Republican candidate -Jim Oberweis - who lost last night, campaigned on a pro-border security and anti-pork platform. Yet he lost in a GOP friendly district.