1980 was my first thought. When did Reagan become palatable to the general public, anyway?
It’s pretty much a myth , Reagan was the odds on favorite to be the GOP nominee all through 1979 and much of the gop establishment backed him .
Even in 1979 Reagan led Carter in the polls : https://www.nytimes.com/1979/07/01/archives/carter-is-edged-in-poll-by-reagan-and-ford-kennedy-leads-both-just.html
Really only the rally around the flag effect early on gave Carter that huge lead which by May completely collapsed and Reagan never trailed in the average of polls from then onwards .
Reagan won his initial election as governor of California by 15 points and his re-election by 8 points. Considering that he performed far better in these elections than most GOP Presidential nominees during this period did in California, I think it is clear that Reagan was already "palatable to the general public."
