There were a few reasons behind the creation of the Electoral College.
Letting a group of "elder statesmen" really elect the President and giving the big
to the popular vote was never part of some "scheme". since the Electoral College IS elected. In November we will be voting for who gets to be a member of it. This needs to be said because some people think the EC is some appointed crap like the Supreme Court.
There are 2 main reasons behind it.
1) Back in the early days... having THREE strong candidates who drew their support regionally was more common. And it was conceivable that they might split the vote 30-30-40% with that 40% candidate being despised by the other 60%. (usually a North vs. South thing) This basically sets up the EC to make deals for Pres, VP, etc. without the additional time for run-off elections. Also, it prevented someone from becoming President from the US without getting direct or indirect support from many states. (Versus picking their home state and it's neighbors and racking up 100% of the vote in them) Things have changed a bit now that voters vote based more on race and urban vs. suburban/rural.... But you get the point, you couldn't just pick one area, pump all the votes out of it and win. You had to win other states or make deals with someone who did.
If Nader had ACTUALLY done well enough in 2000 to get some Electoral Votes... and then thrown them to Gore to put him "over-the-top"... people would be bowing down thinking it was the greatest thing on Earth. If you look at a blue state / red state map... It shows it worked as intended.... Bush "barely" beat Gore in a majority of states... whereas Gore crushed Bush, in a few.
2) It also serves as an "emergency backup" system in case the candidate falls ills, dies, or is killed sometime between being put on the ballot (September) and taking office (January). this way... is something bad happens... the Electors who got their positions by supporting the dead guy will just choose someone else in January instead of having to redo the election and leaving the office in limbo.
...time to go back to my old job writing for Schoolhouse Rock