Buchanan would have lost too, and probably done worse than Dole. Personality counts for as much or more as ideology, and Buchanan didn’t have the appeal Trump did. The economy also counts for a lot: Clinton was riding the tech boom and nobody was going to beat him.
I think your analysis is simply flawed.
Trump WON when everyone [hint: guys like you] said he would get creamed.
Dole LOST when guys like you called him “electable”.
Trump wrote a book about this titled, Winners Aren’t Losers.