You know, I've read various versions of just WHY the Electoral College. The one that makes the most sense to me:

The founding fathers (no mothers there) wanted a representative government but when it came down to it, they didn't quite trust the voice of the people. For fairly good reasons, actually: many people were illiterate, many were in remote places where the vicissitudes of politicians and policies were late in reaching them; often, news reached them literal weeks after an event. Therefore the fathers instated a body of better educated, more elite, more aristocratic if you will, men (again, no females) that would have the last word in an election.