I agree that the electoral college is a little farcical and perhaps even dangerous. And I wouldn't be at all opposed to changing that. But what I'm worried about there is another close election. The 2000 contest was basically a statistical tie, both in Florida and nationwide. Can you imagine a nationwide recount - every single prescinct and ward in the country having to sort through each vote? Yikes.

But other than that, yeah, direct popular vote would be good.

The primary benefits of appointed Senators would be
a) state legislatures would matter nationally
b) senators would have to defile themselves with flavor-of-the-week political/campaign issues
c) the senator's primary loyalty in the senate chamber would be to their state, not to their party. We'd probably see a great many fewer unfunded federal mandates and blatantly unconstitional laws coming out of congress.

Included in the repeal should be a ban on sitting senators running for President. Representatives? Yeah, sure. But not senators.

While we're making radical changes, can we take a serious look at the size of a few states? I think some states have grown so much in population that they're having trouble functioning effectively, both internally and as part of the union. Especially California, but perhaps also New York (easily repairable) and possibly Texas. And can we tell the Puerto Ricans to make up their minds already? Neither the Union nor Puerto Rico gain much from the current situation. I'd welcome another star on the flag.