Carter Wrenn’s Political Trail
My blogging partner Carter Wrenn has written a revealing and engaging memoir of his years in politics – and the rise of the conservative movement in North Carolina in the 1970s and 1980s.
His book – The Trail of the Serpent: Stories from the Smoke-Filled Rooms of Politics – takes you inside the conventions, caucuses and campaigns where the political wars were fought.
He paints unvarnished portraits of the main players – like Senator Jesse Helms, who had “a ruthless streak of redneck cunning.”
Carter tells of driving Helms to give a speech in a small Christian school down east in 1976. Helms delighted the crowd with barbs at Ted Kennedy and Nelson “Rock-y-fella,” then brought them to tears with a story about an eight-year-old boy dying of leukemia.
Leaving, Helms chuckled to Carter, “I really had them with me tonight.”
Carter writes, “the man on stage was an actor. I should have seen it as a warning…but I didn’t.”
The architect of the conservative movement was Tom Ellis, a “bone-deep soul-on-fire crusader” for the cause, with a “zig-zag streak” of political genius.
Carter worked for Ellis for 20 years. They pioneered the direct-mail fundraising and negative TV ads that revolutionized North Carolina politics; elected Helms, John East and Lauch Faircloth to the Senate; and helped elect Ronald Reagan President.
They fell out with Helms when his personal ambition and Ellis’ conservative zeal collided.
Carter writes frankly of his regret over the “white hands” TV ad the Helms campaign ran against Harvey Gantt in 1990.
He writes about his chaotic childhood and journey of faith – and how he sees Trump’s lying today as a symptom of a country that has lost faith.
He tells rollicking good stories about characters like Baldy, a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1976 who helped stave off a fistfight between the North Carolina and New York delegations. Nelson “Rock-y-fella” himself ended up inviting Baldy to a party in his hotel suite.
Some Democrats can’t understand my friendship with Carter, given how bitterly we fought in the 1984 Senate race between Helms and Governor Jim Hunt. That’s when we first met, negotiating debate rules along with Tom Ellis and Phil Carlton.
In the early 2000s, we worked together on a bipartisan project. We spent hours driving across the state – and talking about politics, our families, books, history and religion.
We went from being sworn enemies who disagreed about everything to good friends who disagree about most everything.
We started this blog in 2005 – 20 years ago. Carter came up with the name, Talking About Politics.
We’re still friends, we’re still blogging and we’re both struggling to understand politics today.
Carter’s book shines a light on a chapter of North Carolina politics that few people know.
Here’s a link to order his book.
Carter Wrenn’s Political Trail
My blogging partner Carter Wrenn has written a revealing and engaging memoir of his years in politics – and the rise of the conservative movement in North Carolina in the 1970s and 1980s.
His book – The Trail of the Serpent: Stories from the Smoke-Filled Rooms of Politics – takes you inside the conventions, caucuses and campaigns where the political wars were fought.
He paints unvarnished portraits of the main players – like Senator Jesse Helms, who had “a ruthless streak of redneck cunning.”
Carter tells of driving Helms to give a speech in a small Christian school down east in 1976. Helms delighted the crowd with barbs at Ted Kennedy and Nelson “Rock-y-fella,” then brought them to tears with a story about an eight-year-old boy dying of leukemia.
Leaving, Helms chuckled to Carter, “I really had them with me tonight.”
Carter writes, “the man on stage was an actor. I should have seen it as a warning…but I didn’t.”
The architect of the conservative movement was Tom Ellis, a “bone-deep soul-on-fire crusader” for the cause, with a “zig-zag streak” of political genius.
Carter worked for Ellis for 20 years. They pioneered the direct-mail fundraising and negative TV ads that revolutionized North Carolina politics; elected Helms, John East and Lauch Faircloth to the Senate; and helped elect Ronald Reagan President.
They fell out with Helms when his personal ambition and Ellis’ conservative zeal collided.
Carter writes frankly of his regret over the “white hands” TV ad the Helms campaign ran against Harvey Gantt in 1990.
He writes about his chaotic childhood and journey of faith – and how he sees Trump’s lying today as a symptom of a country that has lost faith.
He tells rollicking good stories about characters like Baldy, a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1976 who helped stave off a fistfight between the North Carolina and New York delegations. Nelson “Rock-y-fella” himself ended up inviting Baldy to a party in his hotel suite.
Some Democrats can’t understand my friendship with Carter, given how bitterly we fought in the 1984 Senate race between Helms and Governor Jim Hunt. That’s when we first met, negotiating debate rules along with Tom Ellis and Phil Carlton.
In the early 2000s, we worked together on a bipartisan project. We spent hours driving across the state – and talking about politics, our families, books, history and religion.
We went from being sworn enemies who disagreed about everything to good friends who disagree about most everything.
We started this blog in 2005 – 20 years ago. Carter came up with the name, Talking About Politics.
We’re still friends, we’re still blogging and we’re both struggling to understand politics today.
Carter’s book shines a light on a chapter of North Carolina politics that few people know.
Here’s a link to order his book.