"A republic, if you can keep it."
And yes, there was a difference. They saw democracy as mob rule, the French Revolution, the guillotine, and all that fun stuff.
The USA was designed with features to restrain democracy. Some of them have been removed over the years, like state legislatures choosing Senators.
Since ancient times, democracy was seen as a failure mode of a republic, just before its collapse into dictatorship.
Are we sure they were wrong?