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Comment by bobsgame | Hacker News Reader

I'm not very political and I haven't decided who to vote for yet, but I don't understand why the tech industry is so anti-Trump.

He seems like a relatively sincere and smart guy to me, and some of his policies seem to be better for business.

Is it because of tougher immigration laws? Are there other reasons based on his policies, or is it mostly just emotional?

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In terms of tech-related policies, he's against Net Neutrality (or was previously) [1], for NSA wiretapping [2], and for encryption backdoors [3]. Many of his views go against what (most of) the tech industry believes. Although much of the anti-Trump talk you'll see here is just because a large portion of the posters here live in Silicon Valley, are young/students, immigrants, etc.

[1] http://gizmodo.com/the-2016-presidential-candidates-views-on...

[2] https://www.isidewith.com/candidate-guide/donald-trump/domes...

[3] https://www.isidewith.com/candidate-guide/donald-trump/domes...

Hillary's not significantly different in that respect -- unless the story is surprise that Peter Thiel's not backing Gary.

Interesting. This is the first time I see anyone refer to him as a smart guy. I'm not political either but it's very clear from most of his talks that his behavior doesn't encourage confidence or respect.

You aren't the target audience.

There is a strange anti-elitism bias in politics. To win, you have to be aware of this. You need to avoid seeming to be too intellectual.

The real expert at hiding IQ was probably the second Bush. Years later, people who worked closely with him report that he was shockingly smart. Had he let this show in public, there is no way he would have won. This is especially true for the primaries.

Simplistic thinking and an air of confidence goes a long way. Insulting the values of your voters will do you no good. (insulting voters in hopeless states and 49% of the voters in swing states is OK though) Trump clearly understands this. I wouldn't bet on him being dumb.

- "Simplistic thinking and an air of confidence goes a long way"

Agree, and btw this is a big lesson for anyone trying to get into any management position.

He seems like a relatively sincere and smart guy to me

I challenge you to post one quote from Trump that "seems smart".

I watched a few of his recent speeches and a lot of what he says seems pretty reasonable. I think he started out being more extreme to grab attention and now that he's got momentum he's mellowed out and actually developed rational policies.

Most people are very emotional about it and seem to have knee-jerk reactions, so I'd like to hear from people who actually read his finalized policies and have specific criticisms about them, not just referencing scandals.

Absolutely has to be a troll. EOM

The smarter he is, the less likely such a quote can be found.

The anti-elitism bias is real. It's tough to win the election, and probably impossible to win the republican primary, if you get into subtle things of an intellectual nature. People don't want to hear it. It prevents voters from having a strong emotional connection with the candidate.

Dumb = smart now?

Idiocracy has arrived

Who are you trying to fool?

He's too unstable to be anywhere near the big red button.

Yet the alternative announced we should shoot down Russian jets over Syria? Even Jill Stein recently said Hilary is more likely to bring us to nuclear war.

... see this is why political posts get flagged. Back and forth we could go, to no end.

So you should let Russia do whatever they want? When did the US became a country of pansies?

Pro-Torture Anti-Encryption Snowden is a criminal Would give nuclear weapons to Saudi Arabia Pro-Putin

Then there are the multiple sex abuse accusations.

Seems like an all-around anti-tech candidate to me.

So, pretty much the same as Hillary, except we must add "by proxy" or "accomplice" after the word "abuse".

The real difference is having played opposite roles in bribery. We have a choice between a president with a history of paying bribes and a president with a history of getting paid bribes.

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