Earlier quoted context omitted.
> the individual states were essentially their own countries with individual governments and leadership The debate over the scope of the federal government dates back to before the end of the revolutionary war, and was a central topic of debate in the drafting and ratification process for the Constitution. Remember that our first attempt at forming a country erred toward a weaker federal government, and was more-or-l…
Those view points aren't without debate. https://fee.org/articles/the-accidental-genius-of-the-electo... https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/11/15/...
The second article also fails to refute anything I've said. A direct vote was ruled out because of slavery -- the article says nothing about that. Once a direct vote was was ruled out, Federalist 68 basically explains why you'd want a college over the competing alternatives.
But the key move is ruling out direct democracy, not preferring one among the N bad alternatives. And the article never explains why a direct vote would've been ruled out. It's painfully clear what the reason for doing so was.