Reasons Trump was a better choice:
1) Ideological ignorance. At 70 years old, it's obvious that Trump doesn't have an ideological bone in his body. No axe to grind, no agenda to push through, no higher purpose than to ride the ride, get the t-shirt, and congratulate himself on being The Best Ever.
2) No political allies. He's too opportunistic to even be a RINO, and the GOP knows it. And of course the Dems know he's got nothing to offer them right now.
3) Corollary to (2), no political traction. He's got some populist themes he can hammer on, and some of them even have enough popular support to pressure Congress, but that's about as far as it goes. The GOP is going to push whatever agenda they were going to push anyway, and try to work with him just far enough to keep him from obstructing them.
4) Judges.
5) "Deplorables". Not the comment itself, but the sentiment behind it. The sentiment you oh-so-coyly pretend it's safe to express here on this forum, because all those rubes out in flyover country can't possibly know what you really think about them. Protip: We know. And we know that it's been how you feel since long before Trump came on the scene.
6) Double standard. Incompetence can be excused when Obama does it? Okay, have an incompetent president. Dishonesty is okay when Hillary Clinton does it? Okay, have a dishonest president. Accusations of rape are meaningless when they're leveled against Bill? Okay, have Trump.
This is less about specific policies and more about the overall dysfunction of our political class, and the overall attitude of the political establishment on both sides, and the overall attitude especially of progressives. Trump's nomination should have been a wake up call to the GOP establishment. His election should have been a wake up call to the DNC.
Me? I voted for Trump after eight years of "Bushitler", and eight years of handwaving about Obama. After coming to the table time and again, only to get spit on by the folks sitting across from me - regularly, on this forum - I saw a chance in 2016 to flip the table for once, and took it. Now I'm waiting to see if I should go ahead and flip the table again in 2020. I guess we'll see if the tone changes around here after
December 4.
And also judges.