Historical memory of Carter’s presidency is also distorted by a failure to consider his administration’s policies in their proper historical context. The creation of the Education Department, for example, or passage of the oil windfall profits tax, seem liberal only when you forget that the political spectrum drifted rightward for three decades after Carter left office. Judged outside that context, even many of Reagan’s policies today seem liberal.

In truth, the pendulum started swinging to the right before Carter took office, and continued doing so under Carter’s presidency. Reagan didn’t change the pendulum’s direction; he just accelerated its speed.

It’s important to remember Carter was the start of the fall of the party in more ways than he was the last upstanding member.

It’s a combination of the party continuing to move right after him. And him moving left once he got out of office.

So while I’d have taken him over Hillary, Biden, or Kamala…

For his time he was already too far right for the Dem party. And this article does a good job covering it.