I was born a Republican.

When we had the entire state of Colorado, our party got fat, dumb, and happy.  We fell asleep at the switch.  We sat around in our meetings and congratulated ourselves on how smart we were.

Rut, Jared, and the Band of Billionaires started the BluePrint and united the Democrats into a monolith.  Now, 30 years later, they control this state.  While I despise the principle on which the Dems have united, collectivism, I admire the intelligence of this plan.

When we started losing, we still didn’t learn, and now we have a totally dysfunctional GOP leadership and party.  The party leaders seem to do whatever they want, regardless of ethics, morality, or even the law.  The factions hate one another.  Instead of fighting the real beast — socialism, collectivism and a far-left Democrat party — we argue among ourselves.

The Christian right are single-issue voters on abortion.  The MAGA-types alienate other Rs with name-calling and offensive behavior, like their leader.  The NeverTrumps would actually waste their vote and keep the Blue Beast in power rather than vote for Trump.

The party is infighting like nothing I’ve ever seen.  Each faction is convinced that it is correct, and nobody can bridge the chasm.  Yet we citizens are vaguely united under the banner of constitutional control over government — which means more freedom for the individual.  Sadly, our petty differences are more important to each faction.  And the Blue Beast keeps winning.

This highly dysfunctional party — correction: the people who believe in smaller government, less regulation, and more individual freedom — needs to come together, with the people therein acting of their own free will, and make a change, starting at the top.  We must first unite under a principle.  Let that principle guide our decisions, even if it means changing.

A conditional principle is just an opinion.  The foundational principle is one by which we live.

The guiding principle should be that which started the Republican Party in the early 1800s and, frankly, started this nation: the sanctity of the individual.

Jay Davidson is founder and CEO of a commercial bank.  He is a student of the Austrian School of Economics and a dedicated capitalist.  He believes there is a direct connection joining individual right and responsibility, our Constitution, capitalism, and the intent of our Creator.

Image: Steve Garvie via Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.