Did Carter have one of the unluckiest Electoral College results in 1980?

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Remember the there was a big polling error in 1980, and it was the biggest such error in modern political history (from 1972 onwards) according to 538. The final NPV polling average, as calculated using 538’s model, would have been R+2.1, which was 7.6 points off the actual NPV of R+9.7. Considering that the tipping point state was IL with a margin of R+7.9, this definitely suggests that polls back then would have shown a close race which turned out to be anything but close.

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George McClellan also was unlucky. The margin as a fraction of the 2 party vote was actually closer in 1864 than 1980, and yet Lincoln got 91% of the electoral votes.

Actually, in 1864 McClellan had an EC advantage, as the tipping point state was 1.3 points more Democratic than the NPV. It's just that McClellan got blown out in the NPV so the EC result was still very lopsided.