You write with the intent "to go back to first principles," yet you reference "Democracy" NINE times, a word not mentioned once in the Constitution. Mob Rule has not worked out well for those who have tried it, as you note with disastrous reboots. Thwarting majoritarian will is a good thing when you are a sheep deciding with two wolves what is for dinner. The Electoral College has helped us avoid the awful governance of California & NY. Our dual sovereignty design is genius, with 50 State petri dishes to experiment with best practices, with freedom to move to more favorable regimes, and with forced Executive campaigning for EC votes beyond a few populous States. That feature is far from an "egregious bug," it ensures hearing diverse concerns and seeking to represent disparate interests. Our 50 unique States and dual sovereignty concept are gifts, and the EC is the best method yet conceived to seek a more perfect union and come closest to uniting the States (for four short years, with a strong feedback mechanism of another national election, if failing and someone else has better ideas which resonate across the States).