Did Nukes Win the 1980 Election for the Republicans?

While considering the comments on this post, I realized that they might have done so.

A substantial number of leftist arguments depend on the claim that liberals know more than conservatives. Did the no-nukes movement in the 1970s undercut that? I suspect that in the late 1970s, most voters in “blue” states knew somebody who could explain in great detail how liberal heroes were selling horsebleep. As a result, pro-nuclear candidates were able to win solid majorities in many of the bluest states. (I recall that John Anderson first became well known as a supporter of nuclear power.)

Of course, the 1980s and 1990s, oil prices dropped off the public radar and nuclear power was mostly ignored.