The GOP Spent How Much To Try To Help Lincoln Chafee Win Reelection To The Senate?

In today's Providence Journal http://www.projo.com, former United States senator, Lincoln Chafee, said that he has left the Republican party and is now an unaffiliated voter.
The Rhode Islander was somehow going to win reelection in 2006 and keep the senate in GOP hands.
Or, so that is what the GOP thought. The National Republican Senate Committee spent a lot of money fending off a serious primary challenge from Cranston mayor Steven Laffey and in the general election and Mr. Chafee still lost.
I think that the voters of Rhode Island could not really tell the difference between Mr. Chafee and the Democrat challenger, now senator, Sheldon Whitehouse. Hence, rightviewfromtheleftcoast rule number one: when faced between a "moderate" Republican and an unapologetic liberal Democrat, the voters will elect the real deal, the Democrat.
So, I ask again in looking back and hearing the warnings from conservative activists, was the money that the NRSC spent to try to defend a seat that would have probably become independent, leaning Democrat, worth it?
It was not. And Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) needs to remember this as we head into the 2008 election in earnest.
Firstly, let the state party decide the nominee. The NRSC blatantly interfered with the process by giving Mr. Chafee a ton of money to fend off Mr. Laffey's challenge. No more of that.
Second. See if the candidate has a realistic chance to win. The only way to really win is to concentrate on state races that the GOP has a chance to win. Too much money was wasted in Rhode Island on a race that was doomed from the start.
Third, start rebuilding state parties. If the GOP lets New England stay in Democrat hands, they will have no one to blame but themselves. The RNC needs to put some professionals in each state's party and find ways to run candidates in every race in that state. Even if it will be a blowout on election day, it keeps the Republicans in the news and makes the Democrats have to spend money where they should not have to. Also, it will be the only way to rebuild the Republican brand in this part of the United States.
Wasting money needs to stop for the NRSC. Getting great candidates is and has to be the first priority if there is any chance, and I am an optimist, to regain the senate. It is true, all it will take is two seats to reclaim and maybe even one if the Republicans win the White House.
So, I for one am glad that Mr. Chafee has left the Republican party. For one can be an iconoclast and not always vote the party line, but Mr. Chafee was doing it with so much impunity that he might as well have become independent before the 2006 election. It would have saved the NRSC a lot of money and may have made the difference in a couple of close races.