Was Ronald Reagan predicted to beat Jimmy Carter going into the election?

No. We expected a close race. They called it for Reagan in like ten minutes.

Carter was far out in front, till the conventions, when he fell behind. Before the conventions there was serious talk about having Gerald Ford run as VP with Reagan to boost Reagan.

But by September Reagan was well out in front and things only went downhill for Carter afterward.

[quote] Before the conventions there was serious talk about having Gerald Ford run as VP with Reagan to boost Reagan.

That "serious talk" entirely was coming from the Ford camp. His proposition was he as VP would rule while Reagan reigned as ceremonial president. Reagan shrugged this off and thereafter ignored Ford. Pat Caddell as Carter's pollster later said they expected to lose but it was only early in the final day they saw what a humiliating landslide it was going to be.

I was too young for Reagan's election but my mother calls Trump "Rude Reagan" and "Crude Reagan" because she sees a lot of similarities in how media viewed Reagan as aggressive but impossibly stupid (well, he was a C-movie star) and were shocked when he won. I should add she's a conservative who voted for Reagan but not for Trump, although she plans to vote for Rude Crude (what I call him to her) in 2020.

I should add, she lives in NYC, so I'm not terribly worried about her vote making any difference and just laugh.

I don't know what the predictions were, but Carter was widely disliked for his preachy Baptist demeanor and general incompetence as president.