If the state legislatures selected Senators the Republican would have almost 60 seats - in a lock. If you are pro 17th amendment then you are and anti FREE REPUBLIC!
Hmmm. Founding father James Wilson was the one who first proposed the direct election of Senators. He did so at the 1787 constitution convention. He was a signatory of Declaration of Independence, twice elected to the Continental Congress, one of the six original justices appointed by George Washington to SCOTUS, and considered a brilliant legal theorist and major contributor in drafting the United States Constitution as we know it today.
But I guess that guy was "ANTI-FREE REPUBLIC" since he disagreed with you about how U.S. Senators should be chosen, right?