“Perhaps that problem could be solved by requiring the first Senate seat to be appointed by the state assembly majority leader and the second seat appointed by the state assembly minority leader?”
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That sounds like craven compromise to me and totally defeats the idea of repealing the 17th Amendment. We would be right back to the same city mouse/country mouse government we have now.
The idea is for citizens to elect their state legislatures. Republican legislatures will appoint Republican senators and vice versa. If a state likes progressive govt. so be it. People will vote with their feet.
The key problem is not whether the Senator is ellected by the direct popular vote or the indirect popular vote through the state legislature. The problem is the inability to remove a senator before the end of the six year term of office. before the 17th Amendment, the Senator could be removed by the popularly elected state legislature. After the 17th Amendment, the state legislature was powerless to remove the Senator from office. Given the politics of the U.S. Senate, it is virtually impossible to hold a rogue Senator accountable for any misconduct, even the forms of misconduct which are impeachable offenses.