“While the field was competitive with several candidates Reagan did not fare any better than Donald Trump is now.”
While the field was full (5 candidates), Reagan won Alabama with 70%, Georgia with 73% and Kansas with 63%. Has Trump won any state with more that 50%?
You are pushing on a string...there was a clearer definition between candidates back then. We have now two “anti-establishment” candidates who really are not very dissimilar (except in some minds) on the policies they present. Both have conservative stances on the most important issues. If you took Trump and Cruz vs the rest you would see an even greater gap than Reagan had.
That was then. This is now. Different candidates, different times, different issues.
Donald Trump isn't Ronald Reagan. He's Donald Trump. He's very likely to enjoy support from a lot of the same voting blocs that Reagan relied on to win his landslide.
The electorate is pissed, beyond all capacity for Establishment understanding. It just goes to show what a detached bubble these elites truly live in.
There's nothing more important than for the Washington DC Establishment of both parties to be shaken to its core. Nothing.