Nixon led George Wallace in the South by 9 points in a hypothetical 1972 poll

[Senator Incitatus]

Wallace '72 is still the nomination that would've done most to change present American politics.

[Senator Incitatus]

Suburban southerners are racist hicks.

But even if they weren't, a basic look at the 1980 map shows the counties that Carter won are either black or within the TVA. So, actually, Reagan did very well with Wallace voters.

Suburbanites are by definition not hicks.

[Senator Incitatus]

By the way, if you find old historical polls like this, please take a second to add them to the relevant wiki articles on their respective elections. Historic polling is essential to our understanding of elections, and putting the data on Wikipedia increases the chance it will be widely available and disseminated.