I know I keep harping on the 17th Amendment and how it changed the Senate and the entire Federal government. With the latest attempt by the renegade Texas State Senators to turn their dereliction of duty into a national attack on President Bush, it shows just how much the Democrats are organizing everything into a national political bloc. I believe that this is directly attributable to the 17th Amendment.
The Senate is the heart of both national parties. If the Senate were appointed by state legislatures instead of popularly elected, it would be much harder for a national party bloc to form since there would be too many House members to make it cost-effective to manage nationally, and state houses and governorships are too independent to make individual sacrifices for some artificial national political entity. The states would regain control over the Federal government and the Senate, and party bloc voting in the Senate over the ideology of a judge would be much harder to come by.
-PJ
I'd love to see the 17th repealed, it's a step in the right direction (reduced FEDGOV influence).