Would another republican have had a higher margin in 1980?

[darklordoftech]

Someone like H.W probably would have done better in the PV than Reagan, but he also would have lost some Southern states that Reagan very narrowly won.

This. The only other Republicans that ran in 1980 that could come close to doing as well as Reagan in the south were Howard Baker and John Connally, both long shot candidates.

I thought Connally only became a long shot candidate after Atwater made voters think Connally was bribing black ministers for endorsements.