It is really only a matter of political convenience that conservatives (wearing the color of the day) believe in limited government, challenging government power, and citizen checks on government overreach. If that were really part of their core believes then they would not have a problem with what WikiLeaks has done. It's instructive that a number of prominent conservatives have come out in support of WikiLeaks.

Ron Paul (Republican congressman from Texas) has come out as a strong defender of WikiLeaks: "What we need are more WikiLeaks", he said in a recent interview.

See the fox news clip here: Ron Paul: "What We Need Is More WikiLeaks On The Federal Reserve"

But see this article in The American Conservative by Jack Hunter which best outlines Republican doublespeak on this issue:

The Conservative Case for WikiLeaks

"Decentralizing government power, limiting it, and challenging it was the Foundersā?? intent and these have always been core conservative principles," Hunter observed. "Conservatives should prefer an explosion of whistleblower groups like WikiLeaks to a federal government powerful enough to take them down."