Andrew Sullivan attacks the center-right populists (e.g. Salam, Ponnuru, Douthat, etc.) for being insufficiently small government. I like Andrew and respect his views immensely, but I don't think it's wrong to try to find a center-right coalition that can win, largely because small government conservatism can't win. Now, that might seem counter-intuitive, and I'll admit that "small government" conservatism can win. I would guess that you intend my meaning.
Saying that you favor "small government" as an abstract idea is popular. But there's just not much there that it is politically feasible to cut. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, public education--these are all really popular liberal programs. No conservative can cut any of these. Conservatives are not predisposed to cutting defense. That leaves an amorphous "waste" to be cut that is usually outweighed by tax cuts for the rich (in reality, Bush's tax cuts weren't tax cuts so much as credit card charges for which the government took the tab).
To be fair, Sullivan has been generally a principled, small government conservative and has opposed many of the excesses of the Bush years. But I think that you are eventually going to see more of a split between the GOP and the conservative movement. The GOP cannot live in the world of absolute principles and ideological purity--it has to be able to win elections, and the country is well to the left of Sullivan. Now, his insights--and the insights of conservatives in general--are interesting and valuable. But it's just not where the country is.
