The tile of this article says it all...Booze laws highlight GOP struggle over less government:

Many in the party stress limited government, individual liberty and personal responsibility. They want to give Georgia businesses the chance to meet consumer demands and compete with border states. That would seem to make them likely supporters of letting voters decide on Sunday sales - and some GOP legislators have sponsored bills to do just that.

[...]

Perdue set the "small government" agenda for Republican leaders in 2005 when, during his State of the State address, he told lawmakers, "I believe most people want just a few basic things from government. They want safe neighborhoods, good schools, good roads and the opportunity for good jobs to support their families."

[...]

"When did the state GOP decide to become a nanny government?" asked Shawn Jacobs, an events director from Cumming and consistent Republican primary voter.

"I thought Republicans wanted government out of our everyday lives. Tell the Reverend [Perdue] to put ending the nanny state on his Sonny Do list," said Charles Davidson of Atlanta, who has voted in both party's primaries.

Natalie Kreeger from Rockmart, who has voted in a Democratic primary, said, "I find it hard to believe that the governor of this state feels the need to be my moral compass. This issue should be decided by the citizens of this state, not the governor."

[...]

Matt Towery, a former Republican legislator who runs a media firm specializing in politics, said defeat of the Sunday sales bills would suggest that the statehouse majority is out of step with Georgians.

He called the Sunday sales fight "reflective of the Republican Party around the country and its search for what it really stands for."

"Over a period of time, folks are going to begin to say, 'Gosh, all you do is pass more laws to tell us what to do.' The lines are so blurred at this point that I can't tell who is Republican and who is Democrat."

One of the main reasons I left the Republican Party was because of their constant need to legislate morality. You can't say that you support individual liberty and personal responsibility, then turn right around and legislate individual behavior. It's both counterproductive and hypocritical...but that is what the conservative movement has become.