I not sure I agree with your premise, much less your conclusion, although the notion of 'the problem with Dems is that they're a bunch of elites" has been around since Nixon's administration, at least, or possibly Adlai Stevenson's run against Ike.   

But you make it sound as if all of this is true, rather than just some Republican meme that has been drilled into everyone's heads for 40 years.  Sure Obama had that 'clutching guns and bibles' moment during the 2008 campaign, but don't you think that was more a gaffe that was blown out of proportion to try to paint him as an elitist?

Your posting lacks any real specifics, so I don't find room to be convinced.  Maybe it's how I'm feeling this morning. But to me, vague accusations of elitism and abandonment of Middle America don't seem worth much.

What policies have the Republicans embraced that the Dems have fought against that play to Middle American values?  Guns?  Making Christianity the nation's official religion? 

Does a party have a responsibility to lead or should politicians simply do what people like?  If Middle America is wrong on issues, should we pander to them just to get their vote? 

And who are these elites that have hijacked the Progressive ideology? And how have they done it? What policies did they enact or propose that went against middle Americans?  Who have we forgotten? How does embracing ignorance help achieve anything?  Didn't middle Americans embrace Bill Clinton?  He won a couple of elections as I recall.

I'm sorry, I'm in a bit of rush today to get to a doctor's appt. and can't take the time to think out a better response than this, but I wanted to leave you some feedback.   

Ever since the late 1960s it has been populated by the better educated, higher payed professionals and semi-professionals. 

I prefer Andrew Young's description of the Democrats running Mondale's 1984 campaign: "smart-ass white boys who think they know it all".  But let's leave race and gender out of it.  'Smart-asses'  works just as well.  BTW, at least one Mondale campaign managers now works for the other side.  I wonder if he did back then.

Anyone in Middle America who believes Republicans give a crap about those "on the lower tiers" must not follow the votes the GOP takes in Congress to cut or block anything from the minimum wage to health care for the poor, and to at the same time protect Wall Street from regulation, and rich people, dead and alive, and Hedge Fund billionaires from paying taxes. They also apparently never cared that The GOP War President lied the country into the war in Iraq. Bush also denied the existence of the $1.7 trillion Social Security Trust Fund in April of 2005, in a failed scheme to turn payroll revenue over to the rich man's casino called Wall Street, much $$ of which would find its way back into GOP pockets in our unregulated system of campaign finance.

If Middle America votrs are  are that morally or intellectually compromised, or that motivated to vote hot-button 'values issues' pushed by a party which has no values but money and power for itself,  there is little hope in using rational arguments to affect their voting.

I have always been grateful that honest people, who want to help the 'lower tiers', like the late Ted Kennedy or Russ Feingold, dedicate themselves to run against and oppose the lying Mafia gangsters of the GOP.

A note on spelling:

Loose - not fit tightly, 'loosing the hounds'

Lose - to not win ' ... 'losing an election'