It is not a zero sum game. If the 17th were repealed then state politics would get the attention it deserves, most people don’t even know the name of the state representative. Repealing the 17th would change that if that state rep was selecting your US Senator.
My state rep would have no say whatsoever in selecting my US Senator. Illinois Speaker of the House Mike Madigan would pick one behind closed doors, and she would duly rubber stamp whoever he told her to.
I live in a gerrymandered state house district that is 80% suburban and 20% urban. The 20% urban portion are improvised black neighborhoods full of violence that vote 95% Dem and have nothing in common with the rest of the district but have an huge influence in the results overall because their overwhelmingly Dem tilt.
Why would repeal of the 17th cause them to "pay more attention" to who the candidates are? Right now their own concern is locating which one has a "D" next to their name. (Ideally they'd prefer a black state rep., however due to demographics, Madigan ensures a white suburban Dem in the RAT candidate).
Nothing will make the sheeple democrap voters pay attention to the state leg, nothing.
And God forbid they do, they may decided their guy isn’t Marxist enough!
Remember we are not dealing with 19th Century America here, that is the most important point. The people are flipping stupid, they are the problem, process is not the problem. A different process cannot fix the problem.
I find it curious that the arguments of the anti-17thers are full of rank speculation with little substance. I’ve laid out the specifics for what it would mean in reality repeatedly, but have yet to find anyone who can substantively refute them. In this very thread, one of your compatriots couldn’t even make the argument beyond “I’m right, you’re wrong.” Is that a logical and substantive discussion ? Most of what you yourself are putting forth are red herrings.
That there would be this “sudden interest” amongst low or no information voters is also absurd and without a shred of proof beyond rank supposition and hope. You seem to think we’ll magically go back to the late 1700s/early 1800s in types of statesmanship. How is that going to happen ? It won’t.
Again, don’t take this for challenging you as a person. I know you want a better and more accountable government with people fully engaged. I want that, too. But repealing the 17th won’t do that at all. It will merely serve to disenfranchise voters like me, as it is one of the few offices I have any input in (being in Democrat legislative districts, whose members willfully ignore voters like me). I do not want legislative hacks (of either party) choosing my Senators.