"Well look" vs. the new "So"... why either?

I’ve avoided listening so far, but my guess would be that it is, first of all, a stalling device. Gaining even a second or two for gathering thoughts before responding would seem like a way of increasing the strength of the answer.

“right across my keyboad within ranting distance”—I like that. So true.

That’s a great question. Thank you for asking. It’s an important topic. Well, look . . . here are the simple facts. Unlike my opponents, I have a plan to address your concern. So, let me give you my views. I’d like to frame my response around some earlier comments. Let’s not twist this. The American people deserve to hear the truth. I hope I can count on you on election day. God bless you, and God bless America.

I hate the ubiquitous – on NPR – “So.” Haven’t heard “Well, look” yet but I’m sure I will.

I haven’t noticed because I am not closely following all the insanity, I have enough insanity of my own right now haha…soooo, my answer is that I will start paying attention when I do watch and I think @Jeruba nailed it…a stalling tactic and also a lazy habit, like those that say ” ya know” a lot. It becomes rote after awhile and to an observer annoying.
IMO the only thing more annoying than lead – ins is interruption..

These function as attention setters. It can take a moment for a listener’s attention to lock onto what a speaker has begun to say. Leading with a little throwaway word or phrase (or even a clearing of the throat, or Obama’s little leading, “Uh…”) is a way of claiming the podium, figuratively speaking, and cuing the listener to get ready for what follows.

The problem is that, while there’s a perfectly natural function for this in speech, it can easily become a verbal tic. If you hear enough people of authority lead off their declarative statements with a “So”, then it just feels right to lay one down in front of any declarative statement, whether a call to attention is needed or not. At that point, it becomes annoying.

As an aside, there are 75 places in the Bible where Jesus begins a statement with “Truly I say to you…” . You’ve gotta wonder if that didn’t get a little annoying after awhile.