It goes beyond just that. I think a Democratic presidential candidate could do well addressing elitist thinking in general. I think they could do quite well with a pledge not to appoint anyone to their cabinet or to a court that graduated from an Ivy League school. One of the reasons we keep seeing the same shitty approaches is that both parties recruit heavily from the same handful of schools. This they're recruited from the same social circles. I would suggest that candidates just flat out state that they'll be filling all their major spots with people who got their education at state schools.
Yes. Because social context and group think matter. The Democratic Party is indeed stuck in a coastal elite mindset. When I say school, it's not even specifically about the kind of instruction the schools teach. It's more about the social networks that have developed around these elite institutions. It encouragesc group think and narrow minded approaches. It's why every Dem policy proposal is the same collection of wonkish tax credits. It's why nationalizing the banks wasn't one the table during the 2008 recession. It's why they don't know how to reach regular people. They just don't know how to think any differently. Hell, look up the figures on federal judge nominations by law school attendance. It's insane how much narrow minded we allow our institutions to be simply by primarily recruiting from a handful of elite schools and their alumni networks.