First off, we don't live in a democracy.  We live in a republic.  Basic civics.  The Founding Fathers chose a republic, because the new government was established by thirteen independent States (as in United States).  They wanted to avoid the mobocracy that was possible under a democracy.  The Federal Government was never intended to be the monolith that exists today.  The States desired to maintain some autonomy from a centralistic government.  The Electoral College was established under the same philosophy that assigned each State two Senators (regardless of population).

So, yes, so that the "backwaters of Wyoming, Montana, and Alaska" have a say in the Federal Government.

The Red Herring in all of this, is that some of the States that were numbered among the first thirteen were Slave States - therefore, the entire US Constitution was based on racism.