You might have stayed home but conservatives did not, they voted. Unfortunately for Republicans, Independents turned against them in droves.
It is tiresome to keep reading this BS that conservatives did not vote for conservative candidates. Not once has anyone showed that this happened nationally.
It is true that many conservatives will no longer vote for liberals, even if they're Republican, but this is not to teach anyone a lesson, it is merely being true to ones principles, something the Republican party might think about doing.
Of the 39 house Republicans who were booted, only 15 sponsored English as our official language. That’s 38%. On the other hand, 68% of all House Republicans sponsored it. And Republican congressmen from blue and purple districts were just as likely to sponsor it as those from very red districts.
There were a few patriots lost in 2006, like Hostetler (IN) and Hayworth (AZ), but very few.