I am talking about prior to the passage of the 17th Amendment. If you pick up a history book the reasons cited for the 17th Amendment were corrupted state legislators.
In pre-17th Amendment days influencing the people was still important. The Lincoln-Douglas debates was not to crowd of legislators but to a crowd of ordinary people who would influence those legislators.
Other then that, I am not quite sure of your point.
“... the reasons cited for the 17th Amendment were corrupted state legislators ...”
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Actually, that is not true.
Chronic vacancies in the senate,
and the populist movement were the reasons given.