If you believe that all votes matter, all voters are equal, and our country's leadership should be elected by the people, a national popular vote is the only way. Any system that allows the possibility of a "loser" to win defeats the goal of a democracy, which is to elect those who best represent the people's wishes.
America is not, nor ever has been, a democracy.
I often feel as though we're a judicial oligarchy instead of a republic or a representative democracy, with the Supreme Court behaving like a set of supreme dictators.
Do you think it would be an improvement if the norm was packing SCOTUS upon taking office whenever control of the federal government flipped? On the one hand, it could make government more explicitly responsive to the will of the people. On the other hand, it could lead to a near dictatorial presidency pretty quickly.