This is less about "rural" and "urban" than it is about whites and non-whites.
Over the last three election cycles, the democrats have moved further and further to the left. But they've also changed their "demographics".
That is to say, they are increasingly the party of:
- blacks
- muslims
- illegals
- other minorities (such as Hispanics and Asians)
- and of course, a residual number of leftist whites and mushy-minded students.
Even cohorts of whites that formerly comprised the democratic base -- working class, unionized workers -- now see the democrats as no longer representing them or what they believe in. Witness the sea change in West Virginia, now one of the "reddest" states around.
For Republicans and traditional-minded Americans, THIS IS A GOOD THING.
We should not chide the democrats for being "out of touch" with an increasing number of American whites.
Quite the contrary, we should encourage them to keep movin' left!