They weren't cretins, they put a lot of thought and effort into designing a system that would compensate for the abysmal stupidity and cravenness of the people. That was one of the intents of the Electoral College, to save the people from demagogues by giving the cooler heads in the States the final say in who became President.
The system was designed with the understanding that the three branches of government were mutually antagonistic, and that their self-interest would always cause them to resist any power grab by any one of the branches. It was a cynical assessment of the actual conduct of men in government (and has a long legacy in the literature of the theory of government). It more-or-less worked, but the Founders either did not expect the monied interests to buy up all three branches and give them their marching orders, or they recognized that if that were to happen, we were screwed anyway. In any event, the rich found their front man, the people were either stupid (or desperate) enough to believe him, and worse yet, many those who didn't believe him didn't think enough of the threat he posed to actually oppose him at the ballot box, and here we are. I think it's ironic that the Democrats were all ready and primed to go to battle once DJT lost the election and started crying "fraud," and using extra-legal methods to overturn the outcome -- and didn't have to worry about it, because he won the election anyway. Now it's the Democrats who are suggesting that somebody cooked the books. I doubt it, frankly, at least any more than the GOP has always cooked the books. The Democrats failed to arouse their constituency enough to get them to turn up, and they lost. End of story. Pellucidly clear, one might say.
-- Mal
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