Reagan united the base only after picking GWHB for Veep.
Also, you didn’t have the GOPe in 1980 telling the voters that they were nuts, screaming that Reagan was a fraud, etc., and saying that they’d vote for Carter. Gerry Ford did NOT come out and slam Reagan.
Trump’s manners (or lack thereof) are surely part of the reason that some people won’t support him...but so are the attitude and the actions of the 2016 GOPe.
“Reagan united the base only after picking GWHB for Veep.”
Bush was in the primaries to the last state.
Reagan’s percentages in the last 12 states:
Idaho-83%
Kentucky-82%
Nevada-83%
California-80%
Mississippi-89%
Montana-87%
New Jersey-81%
New Mexico-64%
Ohio-81%
Rhode Island-72%
South Dakota-88%
West Virginia-84%
Looks to me like they were already united prior to GW Bush being picked as the VP.