Both sides of the Liberal/Conservative split in the US are actually made up of numerous small groups with varying goals with varying degrees of compatibility.

Even on something as broad as "small government" there are many views on the right once you go past the sound bite. There are those that take it as an ideological point itself that smaller government is better. There are also those that use it as a cover for their real goal of reducing taxes and/or removing the social safety net. And there are those that chant it as a mantra, even though they support increasing the size of the government when your talking about law enforcement or military spending or something that they will personally profit from.

Jay