The Republican Party and the MSM and probably even the Democrats will spin this loudly as a final defeat for the Tea Party and Conservatives. The general public perception will go along with that and be reinforced by a lame deferential Republican Senate and House. The only way I see o turn that around is for McConnell to NOT be elected Majority Leader and for Boehner and McCarthy to lose their positions, too. If that would happen then I would guess maybe we have turned a corner. With those three still emplaced there will not be much change in Washington, except that now, with a Republican majority in the Senate we WILL get Amnesty and total permanent Democrat control in one more cycle.
Like it or not, much of the Republican success this time around can be credited with taking out the not ready for prime time Tea Party guys before they got national attention for the stupid things that candidates like them did in 2012.
I am not anti-tea party, but there is absolutely no doubt that those few fools they put up in 2012 cost the Republicans seats, and the piss poor GOTV on top of it gave Obama a second term.
The tea party has to put up 1st tier candidates if it wants to win elections, or it has to put up better 2nd tier candidates that will at least make the R they are running against have to stay more to the right to take them out and influence their governance.
The 2 biggest failings of Republicans in 2012, was NOT taking out the not ready for prime time nutjobs that sadly the tea party put up in a few races, and for absolutely failing in their GOTV efforts election night.