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Have you ever seen an election this intriguing? I know I haven’t.

1980 was interesting. You had Reagan, George the Elder, John B. Anderson, Phil Crane, Howard "the chipmunk" Baker, Bob Dole, John Connolly and probably someone I'm forgetting. Everyone except for Crane ran to the left of Reagan. The farther left Anderson racked up a bunch of second and third place finishes, complaining that Reagan was not electable. He ran third party, helping Reagan increase his margin of victory. There were also the silly "scandals", like Reagan telling an ethnic joke in New Hampshire ("How do you know the Polish fellow at a cock fight?" and of course "I paid for this microphone!")

1976 was also intersting on the Dem side, as Jerry Browna nd Frank Church jumped in late, and won some primaries against Carter. Carter and Caddell figured out how the new delegate selection system, would play out, and they didn't. I am convinced that Frank Church could have beaten Carter in Iowa and that Jerry Brown could have taken New Hampshire.

On the Republican side, it looked like a rout for Ford after Florida, but Reagan surged back after NC and especially Texas, eventually getting more votes (but not more delegates).

For those who maintain it is wimpy for Walker to explicitly not compete in Florida, do note that Reagan chose not to compete in NY or Pennsylvania in 1976. He wasn't even able to get on the ballot. In a world of limited resources, sometimes tough choices have to be made. (He did make a move in Ford's home turf, Michigan, forcing Ford to counter.)