Thank you for your honest opinions. I also work in the tech/research sector, have a very well paying job (approx 140k per year) and was an avid Bernie supporter, so I think I can relate.

At first, 6 months ago, I though Donald was also a joke; and that Hillary was a better choice. But a few things have really changed that

1. Hillary divisive comments during the democrat primary did not give me a good impression of her character.
2. Digging a little deeper, it was clear that Hillary has no plans to deliver on her campaign promises (e.g. removing TPP.) I really don't like lying politicians.
3. CTR's huge presence on reddit really scared me - and made me fear that with her, our social media will become seriously compromised.
4. The way Hillary wants to persecute whistle blower scare me. She wanted to Jail Snowden and Assange from day one. I regard these guys are heroes.
5. The more recent scandals with inciting riots in Chicago was really Icing on the Cake.

I hear Hillary speak, and in principle, they are well thought out and logical. However, I know from the e-mail leaks and her past behavior that they are just well prepared words by her campaign managers (if you read the leaked e-mails, they're constantly deciding what Hillary's position should be to each audience).

Meanwhile, Trump came off first to me a joke in the republication primaries - and I bought the media's portrayal tat he is racist and sexist. But as I digged deeper, I realized that a lot of his quotes was really taken out of context (e.g. grab them by the pussy was talked about in the context that if you are celebrity, girls will jump on you and allow you to grab them by their pussy - which is crude, but valid observation. It did not imply sexual assault.). Yes these were crude comments - but what really put me off is the bias the media showed in covering them.

I am nor saying Trump is perfect, he is far from it. But to me these are his strong points

1. I see evidence that he will not be a puppet (judging by his speech at the recent roast where he was happy to offend the people in power).

2. I applaud the fact that he is the only candidate who wants good relations with Russia; and concentrate on the terrorists - while I see Clinton as bein hamstrung by all the donations she receives from Saudi Arabia.

3. I am sympathetic to Trump; as it is clear that he is having a very rough time with the media digging up everything about his past. Trump may have joined the presidential race to get some attention - but you can bet that he is not staying in it for that reason. Look at the vitriol he getting - no one would wish that on themselves.

4. Seeing videos of his past talks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCabT_O0YSM) from decades ago, I realize that Trump can be quite eloquent if he wants to be. He simply knew this wouldn't be a good idea during if he wanted supported from the broadest population base.

As for policy's? I believe many of Trumps are flawed. I believe climate change is very important. However, I am not convinced Hillary will do a thing for climate change once elected - as she is a puppet of big business.