We should research multiple avenues of energy independence (including fusion, and including how to increase conservation/efficiency of use) so that we can make real progress now and not hang our hat on a single magic solution.
If you know a little about fusion, it's very exciting and seems very real and very close. If you know a lot about fusion, it's exciting, but you realize that the odds of practical fusion power plants in our lifetimes are extremely low. The problem is that to get someone from one state of knowledge to the other requires their active participation, and most people see that as "pissing on their enthusiasm".
What did you make of the German (mainly) Stellarator[1]?
The ideal would be a total understanding of just how and where to "squeeze" the plasma with magnetic fields, so that the least possible input of energy is required and the plasma would essentially stabilize itself. The problem is that the ability to model that on a computer is only just coming along, and the W7-X is a big step forward in uniting those new models with a practical experiment.
Does it solve issues of breeding Tritium, diverting plasma, resisting atomic sputtering? No, but it does hopefully move forward the understanding of the underlying plasma physics.
This is a nice video explaining fusion power: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZsaaturR6E
The interesting thing to me is the need for Helium-3, which we'll need to harvest from the moon.