@ Gimpy
ok, giving "Valorum" more background is one thing, but what you propose here, is to some degree the thing what we expected from Palpatine: to show the face of an "innocent" senator / politician and in reality / hiding his alterego "Sidious" ...
and "mixing" 3 different "persona" is a little too much - ok "radical", but has it that "impact" that the Prequels need ?
a possible "Master VS Apprentice" would be Dooku / Maul - if we want to keep Palps a "secret" till the end ...
I think "how the army was ordered": one person could really just happen to land on Kamino (having a BIG credit card in his pocket!) and telling them "folks" his mission is on behalf of the Republic / Jedi Order (it isn't that "papers" couldn't be forged or something) - simple as that and no more questions asked ;-)
Dooku is doing the same as Plapatine, playing "dumb" - bluffing, as with OB1, when he tried (like Vader) to convert him to his cause (here we could change Dooku to rogue Jedi ?)
one other thing is the "original" for the clone army: a bounty hunter is a "bad idea" - even if he is "bad ass" - better to get a handfull of "candidates" and turn them into a fighting force!
it was never reveiled, why no Jedi / Sith were cloned ...
point is: Jedi don't do politics - that is maybe why they fail: because they keep to themselves (for too long) - when we see it, the Order is a dying dinosaur - until the Sith / dark Jedi "kill" it and Luke later rebuilds a new one ...
Valorum being the "poor" and tragic diplomat, is rather fitting: he was the guy the Republic should have followed, but they got tangled in a web of lies and conflicts, and fear drove the galaxy to the dark side - maybe let Valorum be a victim of the assasin or a casulty of war ? - not vote him out
@ Bingo
there should be something like: back before the "Sith / Mandalorian Wars" (more background is the stuff what PT missed), there were thousands of Jedi and they could keep peace by numbers (and back then they really cared ...) - but through the times their numbers dwindled (the "balance being disturbed ?) and at the time we "start" they are a shadow of old glory - OB1 is somewhat nostalgic ?
your other points make sense ;-)