On power lines, how come down leads are often extended out so it doesn't touch the pole?

Answer 1

I think the leads you're describing are ground wires, and not the down guy leads. The ground wires come down the pole to ground rods buried in the earth. These are connected to the system neutral, lightning arrestors, and static wires.

The ground wires that are placed on stand-offs most often are connected to the top wire on the pole. This conductor is known as a static wire (or shield wire) and acts as a lightning rod to protect the energized conductors from direct lightning strikes. The ground wire down the pole is placed on standoffs to reduce the likelihood of the lightning surge flashing over to the energized conductors. If you look closely, you'll see that these wires are offset opposite as far as possible from the phase wires.