I've spent a good few years studying political science, history, and law. I have to say this election cycle isn't nearly as bad as everyone thinks it is. The historically low approval ratings fit the trend of growing disapproval among presidential candidates, brought on largely by the exponential development of technology and social media. We had always been discontent with our choices, but in this day and age we've never had so many means of conveying that. The data used to obtain these numbers has become more reliable accordingly.

That being said, the candidates themselves are very unique. Trump, on one hand, is the "outsider" who has never held an elected office before in his life. He would become the second President since Washington to be elected with no prior experience in a state or federal government. Clinton, on the other hand, is the first candidate to be going through multiple scandals and investigations leading up to the actual election. She would become the first female President, but also the first person to be elected in spite of ongoing criminal investigations.

On a personal level, I hate Hillary Clinton with every fiber of my being. She is a criminal, a traitor, and a madwoman. She has a history of becoming hysterical, she takes money from MidEast royalty and George Soros, has incited at least two civil wars in foreign countries, and the Clinton Foundation is one of the biggest money laundering schemes in the world. There is an indescribable amount of blood on her hands and an unfathomable amount of dirty money in her pockets. Not only do I think she is a terrible human being, but I don't feel like her policies come anywhere remotely close to make up for her long history of failures and morally corrupt decisions. I would not be able to sleep at night if I had to vote for Hillary Clinton. My conscience wouldn't let me.

With Donald Trump its a different story. When he announced his campaign I was skeptical. I knew who he was, and while I agreed with a lot of the things he said I wasn't sure if I was going to bet on him. After all, I also felt the same way about Sanders but for different reasons. Both of them were outside the political power ring and both had a good chance of breaking up the globalist monopoly that was gripping our politics. Over time, however, it became clear to me that Sanders was not my ideal candidate and that my vote was going to be going to Trump. I find most, if not all, of his policies agreeable. My only contention with him is his personality and some of his stances (global warming, abortion). While I could rationalize that his personality and those particular stances are a means to an end, a pandering facade to secure both the Republican vote and the vote of the disenfranchised, but the safe bet is to assume he is being honest and for that reason I'm a bit iffy on that subject. But overall his pros far outweigh his cons, in my eyes. In all likelihood, I predict a Trump victory in November in terms of the popular vote. The question becomes whether or not he'll have the most electoral votes or if the electoral college does something under-handed (if it did, undoubtedly rigging from HRC).

Worth noting is Gary Johnson, and to a lesser extent Jill Stein. Johnson is presently at 13% approval in the polls right now, just 2% shy of reaching the 15% mark to allow him onto the debate stage with Clinton and Trump. While Stein will not feasibly be reaching that number, she is worthy of mention due to also having a fairly strong presence from outside the Democrat and Republican platforms. Having looked at their policies and seen a few of their speeches and such, I don't find either of them more favorable than Trump. Their policies do not appeal to me or benefit me like his does, though they are superior to Clinton's policies and Johnson and Stein themselves are simply superior to Clinton. However I would love to see Johnson (and Stein, if possible) be on the stage with Clinton and Trump. The two-party system and the FPTP voting system are critically flawed, and having new parties included can help dismantle and replace these systems. If they can get on stage it would be historical and be the first step towards creating a more transparent and accountable federal government with more diverse opinions and honest men and women. I do not want to see Johnson as my President, but I want to see him be the start of something new.

This is basically my TL;DR of the current 2016 Presidential Election, despite the length of it. I've spent a lot of time studying and researching and I've been following events closely since June of last year. Take it for what it's worth, I suppose. Just words on a screen from a man you've never seen.