It is truly amazing how the electoral map has changed in that time frame. But the '76 election was a lot closer than you seem to think. Just 5,000 more votes in Ohio and 4,000 votes in Hawaii would have elected Ford. Exit polling showed Ford was punished significantly for the pardon and for the many blunders he made during the campaign. No way of knowing if Reagan would have done the same, but there is no doubt that Reagan would have been the better candidate and would have performed better in the south.
It was a two man race in 1976 and much closer. Trump is beating Cruz fairly handily.
Which is why I asked what the right spread is in your mind for awarding this to Trump even if he doesn't get to 1237. The rules say otherwise, but being practical and taking public perception into consideration, it is much harder to deny Trump the nomination if he is just 50 delegates away from the magic number than 250. He'd better get his act together on the ground, however, or he's going to get outplayed in a situation where every delegate could count - big time.
I never met Gerald Ford but I did spend several weekends partying with Susan and her friends in Georgetown. She was pretty wild, as were her friends. Her dad seemed like a nice enough guy - very likable. I didn't like his politics even when I was a kid. Too much country club squishiness. If only Goldwater had won.....!!
We will just agree to disagree. Carter set the stage for the two Reagan landslides. That would not have been the case in 1976.
Which is why I asked what the right spread is in your mind for awarding this to Trump even if he doesn't get to 1237. The rules say otherwise, but being practical and taking public perception into consideration, it is much harder to deny Trump the nomination if he is just 50 delegates away from the magic number than 250. He'd better get his act together on the ground, however, or he's going to get outplayed in a situation where every delegate could count - big time.
The right spread is the difference between Trump and Cruz in terms of delegates won, votes received, and states won, including key battleground states like FL, MI, and PA. Although Trump lost Ohio, he beat Cruz by 450,000 votes.
Lots of great stories about Secret Service trying to keep track of the Ford children.