How is the 17th Amendment a reflection of Progressive ideals?

I would suggest that the 17th Amendment (well explained in
the first post), was/is a victim of the "Law of Unintended Consequences" as demonstrated
in the 2008 elections, particularly the election of Harry Reid.  Senate elections, once
the province of individual states, have now gone "national," not because citizens of
states vote for Senators but because money is poured into states to elect senators who
are backed not so as to best represent the interests of the states but because the
candidate maintains the dominance of one party or the other in the Senate.  Again, the
election of Harry Reid in 2008 is a good example of this.  At least when the
legislatures/business selected the Senators, there was a good chance that they would
look after the interests of the state or a portion of
it.

Ironically, in seeking to empower the voters of a state
by this amendment, they may have taken power away from these
citizens.