Ann keeps using 1980 because Anderson really helps her numbers when she leaves him out.
The democrats won 44% of the total under 30 vote in 1980, and 36% of the total white vote in 1980.
Obama won about 40% of the white vote, and worst of all, Romney left millions of white votes on the table which hurt us down the ticket.
Romney was a disaster for republicans, and when you look at who he is and his relationship, or lack of it, to republican politics, you wonder, how in the heck did this fringe character take over the GOP?
Even if you wanted to say that some of the White liberals who supported Anderson would have gone for Reagan, it doesn't affect her basic argument.
So, no, her point is valid and using 1980 isn't any kind of trick.