Reply #16: He does come off as condescending; I've concluded he can't help it

[BeyondGeography]

When he's making a semi-complicated point, regardless of the intelligence level of the audience, he'll slow down the pace of his voice, tilt his head toward the listener, chin down/eyebrows up, and generally exude an "I know this, you don't, but you should," aura. He has been doing this for decades and it continues.

He's at his best when he throws caution to the wind, as in the last weekend of the 2000 campaign, his early antiwar speeches and his numerous anti-Bush orations in the past few years. There are times when you just want to point him toward the nomination and others when you realize he'll never be as effective on the public stage as his most ardent fans imagine him.