Sounds like some variant of populism to me, rather than socialism per se. I don't see the Pubs turning populist unless somehow that manages to attract large numbers of persons of color. Otherwise, I don't see how that works politically. The Dems tend to be more naturally attuned to populistic rhetoric, and for the parties to switch places on this, requires attracting large cohorts of people that more than replace the Torie types who will leave.
You are way overestimating how many "Torie types" that are out there. In many states in the middle is the country, it is because of the populist rhetoric that the Republican party does so well. That's true even in places like the Central Valley and IE in California.
