Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

I believe this has already been discussed ad nauseam.

But once again, we live in a Representative Republic, not a pure democracy. The founders believed that a direct election of the President through a popular vote (i.e. purely Democratic), would cause Presidents to ignore the smaller states in favor of the large population centers. The EC gives small states some say in the election of the President.

The USPS is garbage.

I've got a forward in place and I'm still getting mail at my old place. A week later.

But, we can trust them with ballots. No worries.

Immigration is very tough there. You have to prove yourself useful to them to be allowed in.

They weren't so picky when the Imperial Japanese Forces were threatening to over run them.About 1 million GIs ended up in Australia/NZ (ANZAC)

I think with this, you're arguing about a mechanism without recognizing that the mechanism creates a MUCH bigger change than simply who selects the Senate. It changes who the Senate is answerable to.

Prior to the 17th Amendment, the Senators were answerable to their state legislatures. State legislatures often want to keep power for themselves, rather than be told by the United States Congress what to do. So Senators had a vested interest [by answering to state legislatures] to not allow the Federal government to usurp powers that the states believed were their own. If the Senators consistently tried to give state powers to the Feds, the state legislatures they would not be returned for their next term.

The Progressives wanted a bigger more powerful federal government. They viewed the Senators being answerable to state legislatures rather than voters to be an impediment to that, and wrapped their argument for change that the current system was anti-democratic. But the goal wasn't the mode of election, the goal was to break down the Senate's incentive to keep power out of the hands of the Federal government.

Most voters didn't make the distinction between state powers and federal powers, and therefore direct election of senators DIRECTLY led to more and more power finding its way to Washington DC instead of state capitols.

320: I'm not going to go on a snipe hunt, but if I come across the source I read--probably on The Bulwark--a couple of days ago, I'll post it.