No one agrees with you 100 percent of the time.

That doesn’t mean they’re wrong or that you are, either. People have differing opinions and draw conclusions that do not match up every single time. And that is perfectly acceptable for most of us.

If not, this would be a difficult world to live in, wouldn’t it?

We offer these philosophical musings in light of the Park County Republican Party’s Central Committee meeting on March 28. The local GOP has been divided at times in recent years, with an at-times spirited and even contentious debate over what the party should stand for and who truly represents it. Social issues, including same-sex marriage, and the long-running dispute over lawmakers’ efforts to transfer the state superintendent of public instruction’s powers to an appointed official, led to a fiery family feud.

The GOP committee meeting was officially about electing party officers. It was a contest between the conservative faction who have held control of the party machinery in recent years and the self-titled Unity group, led by Colin Simpson of Cody, a former Wyoming speaker of the House. Larry French, who had previously said the Unity group, made up of moderate to conservative Republicans, was out to damage the party, even ruin it, did not seek re-election.

The people who attended the meeting disagreed with French’s viewpoint, electing Unity candidates Simpson as chairman and state Rep. David Northrup, R-Powell, as vice chairman. Echo Renner of Meeteetse was re-elected as state committeewoman and Joyce Boyer of Cody was named treasurer. All won easily, garnering more than 60 percent of the vote.

Terry Hinkle of Cody, a Unity leader, lost a close vote to Richard George of Cody for the state committeeman post. George was unaffiliated with either faction, but he did say he wanted Wyoming and Park County to remain conservative bastions.

Simpson used a popular percentage to make his point that Republicans have much more that unites them than issues that divide them.

“We can agree on 80 percent of the stuff 100 percent of the time, but don’t let the other 20 percent be so divisive that we can’t even be in the same room with each other,” he said.

That’s an echo of a statement made famous by President Ronald Reagan, an enduring Republican icon.

“The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally — not a 20 percent traitor,” he said.

Sen. Mike Enzi has repeated that sentiment: “I believe that people can agree on 80 percent of the issues 80 percent of the time, and if they leave out the other 20 percent, they can get a lot accomplished.”

Colin Simpson’s father, former Sen. Al Simpson, also is well aware of the fact. Those Republicans recall the long period when the GOP was a minority party in the country, unable to obtain control of either the House or the Senate and losing seven of nine presidential elections from 1932-64.

That changed in the late 1960s through the 1980s, as the Republican tide swelled. Now, despite winning statewide races to obtain control of Congress, the GOP is again on a presidential losing streak, having lost the popular vote in five of the last six elections. The question for Republicans, in Park County and across the country, is this: Do they want to win and help steer the future of America, or do they want to squabble among themselves instead?

In America, the middle 20 percent effectively sets the agenda for politics and government. Liberals and conservatives can count on the support of about 40 percent of the voters — it’s the 20 percent in the middle who decide the outcome of elections. While Wyoming and Park County are far more conservative than the rest of the country, and the GOP has firm control, the 2014 campaign revealed that voters favor candidates who chart a more centrist course; take a look at the results in the governor’s Republican primary, for example.

That was reinforced by the results at the Park County Republican Central Committee meeting. We think it’s something that most people can agree on.