“I cannot BEAR to watch Obama, . . “ Me neither. I have never been able to watch or listen to him. Even though I disagree with just about every word that comes out of his mouth, I tried to listen early on to understand why people thought he was such a good speaker. I never could understand. I think he is a terrible orator. He is condescending in word and tone, his inflection is very odd, and of course then there are the 'uhs' and 'ums.' I was going to try to watch, but I don't think I can.
Going back to when GWB was running, I decided my favorite way to "watch" a debate is just to keep track of the FR thread and read people's comments! It is much less nerve-wracking. :)
Actually, I read (on FR, I believe) that Obama’s tactic in speaking employs a sort of hypnotic cadence; a sort of mind control method. I don’t know that for sure; but suppose it’s possible.