Any Presidential nominee who eve grafts the wins of Jimmy Carter in 1976 onto the Obama wins of either 2008 or 2012 wins a landslide:
Key -- Carter won in 1976, Obama won twice -- deep red 151
......... Carter lost in 1976, Obama won twice -- medium red 181
......... Carter won in 1976, Obama never won -- pink 126
......... Republicans won in 1976, 2008, and 2012 -- blue 54
......... Others (gray) 27
That is 456 to 483 electoral votes for the Democratic nominee of 2016, depending on how Indiana, North Carolina, and the Second Congressional District of Nebraska go. Maybe Arizona and Alaska are shaky, and that is not a reference to seismic activity.
Possible? If the Republicans nominate a sheer turkey and the Democrats can win back the sorts of people who voted for Jimmy Carter in 1976, yes. Likely? I can't see it happening.
I think a more realistic map is Bill Clinton + Obama. This may even be what the polling for Clinton v. not Christie is showing us right now. This would basically be Clinton's best case scenario.
