As someone raised in the country I can tell you right now that reason rural folk don’t vote Democrat is because Democrats have done little to nothing for rural folks. Not economically or in a civic manner.
Yet they definitely have. For example, who pushed through minimum wage hikes? Child tax credits? The recent infrastructure investment plan? The Affordable Care Act?
Be specific. Can you think of a particular bill that would benefit rural people that Democrats opposed and Republicans supported?
Democratic identity politics is has also shown that Democrats place rural and working class white guys as people to be despised and ridiculed as opposed to the reality that they largely built this country with their productive abilities.
I think that comes closer to the truth of the matter. Democrats can fight all day long for policies that will help rural people, but if they don't emotionally support notions of white superiority and structures of white supremacy, they're going to have trouble with rural whites.
Yet Republicans are at least respectful towards them and stand by them on mostly on social issue.
I think both parties are elaborately respectful towards rural people. You never hear any major politicians talk about rural areas with the contempt Republicans regularly use when talking about urban areas. But on social issues,, you're likely right. Republicans, for example, are friendlier to theocratic initiatives, land that plays well in rural areas. If you think the governments proper role is to punish gay people, force women to carry unwanted pregnancies to term, and promote the Protestant faith in public schools, then Democrats have little to offer there. The Democrats may have a very big tent, but they haven't been inviting those particular initiatives into it. The GOP may be a small-tent party (which is why they lose with Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, Arabs, Indians, immigrants, gays, and pretty much any religious minority). But their tent has ample room for theocrats.
In the last 50 years productivity in our nation has exploded while the standard of living for working and middle class folks has not and is declining.
In what sense is the standard of living worse than 50 years ago?