The problem is your claim that vim is the lowest common denominator.
You could certainly argue, if you wanted, that vim is too obtuse for the majority of users, that its learning curve is so steep as to render it useless for most of them. But you can't deny that vim is powerful. Someone who masters vim will get the job done faster, by virtue of almost every command being just one keystroke away. The speed gained from being able to format large sections of text in just a few keystrokes is very noticeable.
There will always be room for options that are harder to master but rewarding once mastery is achieved. vim is that option. I don't see what's wrong with that.