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<blockquote data-quote="dwright27" data-source="post: 5043724" data-attributes="member: 578952">At the Constitutional Convention, the Virginia Plan used as the basis for discussions called for the Executive to be elected by the Legislature.[7] Delegates from a majority of states agreed to this mode of election.[8] However, a committee formed to work out various details, including the mode of election of the President, recommended instead that the election be by a group of people apportioned among the states in the same numbers as their representatives in Congress (the formula for which had been resolved in lengthy debates resulting in the Connecticut Compromise and Three-fifths compromise), but chosen by each state &quot;in such manner as its Legislature may direct.&quot; Committee member Gouverneur Morris explained the reasons for the change; among others, there were fears of &quot;intrigue&quot; if the President was chosen by a small group of men who met together regularly, as well as concerns for the independence of the Office of the President.[9] Though some delegates preferred popular election, the committee&#039;s proposal was approved, with minor modifications, on September 6, 1787.[10]In the Federalist Papers No. 39, James Madison argued that the Constitution was designed to be a mixture of state-based and population-based government. The Congress would have two houses, one state-based (Senate) and the other population-based (House of Representatives) in character, while the President would be elected by a mixture of the two modes, giving some electoral power to the states and some to the people in general. Both the Congress and the President would be elected by mixed state-based and population-based means.[11]</blockquote>

[QUOTE="dwright27, post: 5043724, member: 578952"] At the Constitutional Convention, the Virginia Plan used as the basis for discussions called for the Executive to be elected by the Legislature.[7] Delegates from a majority of states agreed to this mode of election.[8] However, a committee formed to work out various details, including the mode of election of the President, recommended instead that the election be by a group of people apportioned among the states in the same numbers as their representatives in Congress (the formula for which had been resolved in lengthy debates resulting in the Connecticut Compromise and Three-fifths compromise), but chosen by each state "in such manner as its Legislature may direct." Committee member Gouverneur Morris explained the reasons for the change; among others, there were fears of "intrigue" if the President was chosen by a small group of men who met together regularly, as well as concerns for the independence of the Office of the President.[9] Though some delegates preferred popular election, the committee's proposal was approved, with minor modifications, on September 6, 1787.[10] In the Federalist Papers No. 39, James Madison argued that the Constitution was designed to be a mixture of state-based and population-based government. The Congress would have two houses, one state-based (Senate) and the other population-based (House of Representatives) in character, while the President would be elected by a mixture of the two modes, giving some electoral power to the states and some to the people in general. Both the Congress and the President would be elected by mixed state-based and population-based means.[11] [/QUOTE]

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