1) You actually can, as high voltage DC transmission lines have shown in China (and some places in the US), where you can transmit for literally thousands of kilometers. Transmission is a political problem, not a technical one. Which doesn't make it easier to solve (it's harder to solve political problems, as a rule), but your sort of argument contributes to making it harder politically, a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy.
2) Making it near consumers makes little difference to overall land-use. Yes, you can make more solar power from the same area in desert than in more temperate climates, but you're still talking a very small amount of land.
