People seem to forget how popular Nixon was, even among Southerners, but Wallace would've done slightly better than McGovern overall. I'd argue that Wallace could've won or gotten close to it if he was the 1976 nominee and focused on economic populism, religious conservatism, and defeating poverty, rather than racial issues, and win Del Tachi's map plus Pennsylvania and possibly Iowa and minus New York (I think New York during that time period would've chosen a Javitz/Rockefeller style Republican over a populist Southern Democrat, save for if someone like Goldwater was nominated, which Ford was not a Goldwaterite). Nevada would've flipped as well seeing how Wallace did well for a non-Southern state and likeminded thinker Walter Barring Jr was elected to Congress at-large. Oregon would be competitive, but I don't think it would flip.
