The Founders wanted citizen legislators, but the system in those days was much, much simpler and government was infinitely smaller.
Today, our adversaries are not only very entrenched, but very professional. We need professionals to fight them.
To find professionals who are mostly concerned about "doing the right thing" rather than "keeping power" is difficult, as I've indicated.
Hmmmm...simpler system; smaller government...sounds pretty good to me. We should be moving in that direction but sadly we're not.