What does this Republican wave mean?

What conclusions can we draw from this election? That the Republicans now have a huge mandate for tax cuts? To repeal Obamacare? To drill every last square inch of Earth to support our fossil fuel addiction?

I'm not sure about these things. I am sure about this, though: When most people don't vote, Republicans win. The GOP rode a wave created by a dismal 36.6% of registered voters. 

Which makes a nice critique of the conservative narrative that says elections are driven by poor and low-income people voting themselves benefits. It is actually Republican-leaning voters who vote consistently and in large numbers. Democratic-leaning people vote less. They came out for Obama's elections but stayed home yesterday. Which left room for relatively well-off white voters to elect the Republicans even in Democratic states like Maryland.

It is important not to make too much of these results. In 2008, when Barack Obama won states like Virginia and North Carolina, there was talk of a fundamental shift toward the Democrats; many people felt the same way after the president's reelection in 2012. But there was also 2010 and now 2014, when things went the other way. That is to say, these elections don't indicate permanent changes in Americans' preferences. They rather signal reactions to current events--when people are dissatisfied with how things are going, they take it out on those in power. This does not mean that they're in love with the people they're putting in office.

Of course, these results also reflect voter turnout: when more people vote, Democrats fare better. But if the people were thrilled with the Democrats they elected, they should have showed up to keep them in office. So however you look at it, the election did show people's dissatisfaction with Democrats. 

But there is nothing new here. Presidents' parties tend to do horribly in the president's sixth year in office. This hasn't meant permanent change in Americans' political philosophy before and probably doesn't mean it now. What it does mean now is that the president and Congress will spend the next two years getting nothing important done.