I mention this because I classify 1980 as a landslide (Reagan beat Carter by around 10%) but thanks to the third party candidate John Anderson, he didn't win 58% - he won 50.75%.
1980 was not a landslide unless you use ridiculously low criterias that make the term void.
Of course if you set your own criterias just to make sure the elections you like are called landslides, it's not surprising.
How do you not quantify 1980 as a landslide when Reagan won 44 states, 489 electoral votes, and a 10 point win in the popular vote?
Because of the significant number of states that he won with less than 50% of the vote in those states.
That's a good point. Reagan won most southern states by very thin margins, around 1-2 points. If you shift Carter's popular vote from 40 to 42%, even keeping Reagan at 50, the electoral vote shifts significantly as Carter picks up a large hand full of southern states.
Even so, I'd still consider it a landslide. I think the qualifications for a landslide for a challenger should be a little looser.
