Trump vs. Biden: Can we overcome our disbelief?

livemint.com:

Like a good movie, a successful presidential campaign requires the willing suspension of disbelief on the part of the viewing public. On the screen, we know that improbable plot twists, physically impossible stunt acts, and the ubiquity of dreamily beautiful characters bear little resemblance to the reality of our own human drama.

But we waive our incredulity because we feel that somewhere beyond the preposterous embellishments is a core truth that speaks credibly to our hopes and fears. Presidential campaigns are similar.

Almost none of us believe all the implausible promises we are told. No candidate is the model of national leadership they all purport to be.

To commit one’s vote to an inevitably flawed person and endow him with powers that include the still more or less unique capacity to blow the world to pieces requires a leap of faith in someone most of us can’t ever really know. It is a vital decision, nonetheless, testifying to our values and framing our future, so we suspend our doubts, swallow hard and make our imperfect choice.

But has there ever been a campaign in American history in which so many were required to suspend so much disbelief in such daunting circumstances as the 2024 election? Have we ever faced a campaign in which we have been more obliged to smother the small, hard kernel of fear at the heart of our choice with ever thinner gossamer layers of hope? What makes this contest especially unusual is that this must be the first contest in which those close to the two main protagonists know only too well more reasons to doubt the fitness of their man for office than do the voters at large. On President Biden’s side, the louder the protestations we hear from his aides that his age isn’t a problem, the