Is sure-loser Norm Coleman really worth $1 million to GOP?

Politico.com reports that the National Republican Senatorial Committee has spent $1 million on Sen. Norm Coleman's quixotic legal efforts to defeat Democratic challenger Al Franken. The case is sitting with the Minnesota Supreme Court, which almost certainly is going to rule that Franken won the close race. All the votes that anyone is going to count have been counted, and Franken has more of them than Coleman. A court decision could come any day now.

The question is, why is the GOP pumping big money into this losing cause? It has enough problems to deal with as the 2010 election looms. As Politico reports, the Repubilcans have 18 seats to defend, including five senators who are retiring. And they have to do this at a time when the party has low public approval ratings and some of its so-called stars, such as Nevada Sen. John Ensign and South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, have been publicly revealed to be rank hypocrites.

Well, whatever. It's certainly not for me to say how the Republican Party leadership should spend its contributions. But I'm a litle surprised we're not hearing more from cost-conscious party members who surely must oppose such wasteful spending.