I think it mostly has to do with Buddhism being seen by the majority of people, especially in the western world, as an oriental philosophy and less as a religion like Christianity or Islam. So people outside of Buddhism feel sympathetic to the Dalai Lama and Buddhism in general, in a way that, for instance, an Islamic does not feel for the Pope.

It also helps that his messages are in general agreeable. The whole peace and meditation and good-will stuff has a very low potential for controversy.

EDIT: Also let me add that I don't see why you are being buried. You aren't being disrespectful or rude or in anyway breaking the guidelines by asking these questions. You even stated in the first post that you if you came across as snarky it wasn't intended.