In the last Presidential Campaign the loser got more votes than the winner, and kept stressing the inequality of it. So what happened? The answer given was that the Electoral College is the deciding factor. So what is the Electoral College? Do Americans have to send their votes to university to get a higher education before they get them counted?
No.
There are 538 Electoral College votes. Each Congressional Distict gets a vote. The District of Columbia where Washington sits does not have a Congressional seat yet gets 3 Electoral College votes. Maine and Nebraska each have two votes that are decided by statewide election and the rest by Congressional seat election. The way each Congressional seat votes determines who gets the Electoral College vote even if it is by a few votes. Thus more than 270 Electoral College votes equals a Presidential victory.
The need therefore is for the Presidential candidates to run a national campaign and then local campaigns relevant to Congressional seats without conflicting with other seats. Marvellous balancing act, if there ever was one.