Almost sounds like you're talking about Bob Taft (the grinning idiot) here in Ohio. He's the worst Guv we've ever had, and has done more to help destroy the party than any Repub in memory-although George RHINOvich started the ball rolling before him.
Taft, whose name should've ordinarily be associated as the anti-Eastern Establishment (the original RINOs), has utterly disgraced his grandfather's memory. However, even in saying that, Voinovich & Taft haven't yet technically caused numerical damage to the party (we still, after all, have majorities in the legislature, the Congress, statewide offices, etc), and didn't have a negative (or would it be positive ?) impact on those statewide initiatives. But while the national media was crowing that the unpopularity of Dubya almost cost us that special Congressional election, that very much was more the cause of the state of Taft and the state GOP.
Unlike with MA, however, we have the anti-RINO waiting in the wings to tackle the damage being inflicted by the RINO leaders, that being Ken Blackwell. Failure to elect him Governor will indeed result in those numerical losses that haven't yet materialized. Between having to fight the RINO establishment and the media (What ? Allow an uppity n***er oreo Republican to WIN ?! No way !), he also has to battle the 'Rats... it'll be a tough contest next year, but I think he'll pull it off. Blackwell in my opinion is also potentially Presidential timber.