I think that to conflate "true leftists" with "cultural elites" is kind of silly. When I think of the stereotype of a New York Times reader from an upper middle class suburb I don't think liberal do much as a fiscal moderate+social liberal who would in an earlier generation have been a Rockefeller Republican. On a lot of issues like expanding social security, raising the minimum wage etc I think that if you asked a lot of people they'd probably lean left on all of them, it's just that liberal has a negative cultural connotation. I bet that on fiscal issues plenty of working class white people are to the left of the suburban yuppie/whole foods stereotype.
Your stereotype exists among suburban liberal elitists, but when I think of wealthy urban elitists, I think of morally-driven progressives.
