How did these people get to be "the elites"?

Good post here by Tom Blumer about how so many well-off folks who supported Obama are now shocked to see that he actually is doing what he said he would do (albeit in roundabout terms), but also that what he revealed in unguarded moments- namely that he firmly believes in redistribution of wealth and government power (dare I say it?) uber alles. As Blumer writes:

"Slowly but surely it is dawning on many of these elites that Obama is exactly what he was in rare unguarded moments during his presidential campaign, during his brief U.S. Senate career as its most liberal member, during his time as an Illinois senator, and, to the extent we were able or allowed to learn it, during his life up to that point: a far-left, class-warfare, redistributionist demagogue. They are also learning that he is bound and determined to impose a radical agenda on the rest of the country and that he has little interest in making exceptions for those who thought they were buying protection or favors with their campaign dollars."