I’ll give that the answer it merits.
When one starts talking about merit, it would be advisable to make sure one’s own work is up to snuff, and that they aren’t in fact earning what they get themselves.
Are you sure you aren’t just avoiding the salient point that was made? Your whole line of reasoning misses the whole distinction between intellectual and political activism. Politically, no rational individual would, in the name of ideologicla purity, oust a member of a party, if in doing so, they made their political party irrelevant.
Spectre is a moderate republican because, surprise of surprises, he is from a swing state. A little cabal of right wing nuts can’t oust him and he knows it. He simply switch parties to prevent a stupid blunder. If you want to change the ideological nature of the senator, you have to change the ideological nature of his state. You don’t do that in the primaries. All you do there is put someone in for your party who is unelectable.
All I can say is that my inbox is filling up with notes from regular board members thanking me for calling you out. Really, go home.