You are correct. The GOP has been moving in the leftward direction for quite some time. Gradually, but always leftward so that today the “rank and file” really is the GOP-E. There are not so many RINO’s; rather CINO’s (Conservative In Name Only)!
Don't be surprised if a realignment is happening. The rats are bailing out on working class whites, and they noticed.
In the 2010 midterm election, when Republicans crushed Democrats up and down the ballot nationally, less than 33 percent of the white working class voted for House Democrats a record low.It helps to explain why in 2010 the GOP got 60 percent of the total white vote for the first time in history.
The white working class has no other place to go. They and the Tea Party can remake the GOP. IMHO, the white working class is much more likely to embrace traditional values, maybe not as much as they used to, but I still think they would be a shot in the arm for conservatism.