Who said anything about merit?

Given the US is a democracy (presuming voting is reasonably representative of the voter's intent, i.e., voter fraud is not significant in determining the "will of the people"), and plenty of examples where the candidate that was outspent/had less money still won, blaming money is a cop out.

The majority of people who bothered to vote in Wisconsin since 2010 voted for Johnson. Money has an influence but isn't determinative.