In this election, America has already lost

American presidential elections are sometimes won or lost on what is later seen as a moment of brilliance – or a mistake. In the 1984 presidential debate, an aging Ronald Reagan – 73 at the time, compared to the 160-year separation between Joe Biden and Donald Trump – allayed concerns about his advancing years with a joke that even his relatively young opponent, Walter, laughed. Mondale, 55, laughed: “I’m not going to make age an issue in this campaign because I don’t want to use my opponent’s youth and inexperience against him.”

In 1988, a single ill-timed and mismatched image derailed Michael Dukakis’ presidential campaign when he had a 15-point lead over George Bush Sr.: a photo of him atop an Abrams tank, looking dwarfed and agitated.