“I am very glad that Reagan was the nominee because he is who we needed in 1980 but I think that any of the Republicans could have won against Carter that year.”
Reagan ran against two opponents: Carter, and the RINO “elite.” The RINOs would rather have seen him lose, and if they had defeated Reagan and put up their own candidate, that candidate would have lost.
I disagree, I think anybody would have beaten Carter in 1980 by a landslide. He was very unpopular. He was even callenged in the primaries by his own party.