The Sanjaya Phenomenon

The conventional wisdom underlying democratic institutions is that the people know best, and, given open discussion, the truth and the best people will rise to the top. What about times when this isn't the case? For instance, when a candidate deceives people and gets the vote. Or an even more interesting case is when a candidate who is not the obvious choice for a job, but appeals to other characteristics when asking for one's vote. Possibly other things, such as interest groups, could interfere and skew the vote, as well.

Shouldn't people be glad that democracy is functioning no matter what the outcome? I found people's emotions raised by Sanjaya's continued place on American Idol to be an interesting reaction. Some people got really frustrated, as if they thought that democracy wasn't working in that case. Does democracy, then, have some relationship to truth that can be undermined by interest groups and factions? Or is it just a conversation that should be allowed to continue unobstructed, any outcome of which is correct? (this is a more Oakeshottian read)