As a practical matter, acting on that assumption is the best political strategy for the GOP. The religious right faction is irreconcilable -- giving them part of what they want just makes them more strident. Economic conservatives, on the other hand, would be satisfied with some good-faith effort to control spending; and leave-us-alone conservatives could be won over with some real rollbacks of government overreach.
Pandering to the former and giving the back of the hand to the latter is going to make for a like-father-like-son one-termer....