When you shoot a gun, make sure to clear the holster first.

This would be a good lesson for House Republicans who, thinking they were firing on liberal hordes and rescuing the country, shot themselves and their agenda – again – square in the right foot. 

The trigger man this time is the ethically challenged, attention-seeking Florida U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a man so vapid he makes the Kardashians look like Nobel Prize winners. He reminds one of what the legendary columnist Jimmy Breslin once said about another politician: “A small man in search of a balcony.”

The question is not ideological, really. Few sentient conservatives disagree the country is in a mess. Too often Republicans reach the pinnacle of power and seldom achieve the sweeping reforms they promised. Indeed, slowing the progressive bulldozer down a few miles-per-hour is not a win for the country, and conservatives are frustrated by a series of missed opportunities over the years. 

So, the barbarians with Gaetz aren’t wrong on the issues. The problem is there is no strategy, rooted in reality, about how to turn gripes into actual laws. This requires winning elections and then doing the hard work, away from cable news and social media, of legislating effectively.

Instead of putting forth actionable strategic plan, he and his Chaos Caucus are the political equivalent of a squealing two-year-old with a full diaper. 

It doesn’t need to be a complicated plan. Ronald Reagan, when asked what his overall aim for winning the Cold War was, said, “We win. They lose.” And then he proceeded to work hard, cajole, inspire and often compromise to keep the focus on ultimate victory.

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However, the current strategic vacuum has turned this formula on its head. For conservatives it has become, “We lose. They win.” This multi-year fiasco has had as its primary result of wins for Democrats in places, including in areas of Colorado, they only dreamed about. 

That is the real question facing Republicans: Can someone articulate how the intra-party pie fights are pushing voters closer to electing a greater number of conservatives to office? There are only attacks, finger-pointing and never-ending grievances. Rhetorical torches and pitchforks – but no plan.

Even Donald Trump, never shy from turning his flamethrower on whomever in the GOP crosses him, said the infighting draws attention away from the Democrats’ shambolic record at the federal, state and local levels. 

He’s right. Political battles aren’t won by handing grenades to the enemy. 

What makes the circular firing squad even more maddening is there remains a growing opportunity to win over voters who solidly embrace Republican ideas – but are not yet sold on the GOP candidates who want to enact them. 

One recent survey showed record approval ratings for GOP fiscal policies. A Gallup survey reported Republicans lead Democrats by 14 points on the question of which party would “do a better job of keeping the country prosperous.”

That is the biggest advantage for the GOP in more than 30 years, going back to just before the political earthquake of 1994 when the party seized control of the house for the first time in decades.

The GOP also has a 22-point advantage in national security policy, showing Americans believe Republican policies are better suited to keeping the nation safe. 

So Americans think Republican policies are what the country needs. But are they ready to elect Republicans to implement them? 

The same survey showed both parties remain in the high-50s in disapproval ratings, with the GOP sitting at 58%, just a few points higher than Democrats. 

What Americans are viewing does not help win trust. 

The challenge for Republicans – including the careening clown car at the Colorado GOP – is to think through how sowing chaos and dysfunction helps win elections and moves a very popular agenda forward. And then reconsider the continuing course of wrack and ruin. 

Or will they allow America to keep steaming toward a massive iceberg, content to reminisce about better days in a once-great country, while casting all the lifeboats into the sea because they are not painted a deep enough red?

Sean Duffy, a former deputy chief of staff to Gov. Bill Owens, is a communications and media relations strategist and ghostwriter based in the Denver area.