CarterWrenn200x271

Carter Wrenn

????????????????????????????????????

Gary Pearce

Carter is a Republican. Gary is a Democrat.

They met in 1984, during the epic U.S. Senate battle between Jesse Helms and Jim Hunt. Carter worked for Helms and Gary, for Hunt.

Years later, they became friends. They even worked together on some nonpolitical clients.

They enjoy talking about politics. So they started this blog in 2005.

They’re still talking. And they invite you to join the conversation.

Archives

Categories

The Price of Anger

By Carter Wrenn October 28, 2025

Tariffs are controversial – people disagree over whether they do good or harm.  I don’t know who’s right or wrong. But the way Trump saw it Canada was sapping our economy, so after he was reelected he put tariffs on Canada to fix the problem. An odd thing happened. Canada ran a TV ad in…

How Democrats Vetoed Redistricting Vetoes

By Gary Pearce October 27, 2025

The News & Observer said former Governor Roy Cooper is “to blame” for governors not having the power to veto redistricting bills. Actually, a lot of Democrats who were in the legislature in the 1990s have to share that blame. In fact, some Democrats in the state House then – including then-Speaker and now-Senator Dan…

Not 1930s Germany

By Gary Pearce October 24, 2025

Sometimes you fear America could go down the same road as Germany 100 years ago. Then you see millions of Americans turn out at thousands of No King rallies across the country. Germans rallied for a dictator. Americans rallied against one. Unlike Germans, Americans have lived under freedom, not tyranny, for 250 years. Germans went…

They’re For Trump, Not For You

By Gary Pearce October 23, 2025

Republican legislators just did something that swing voters dislike most about them: “put loyalty to Donald Trump over loyalty to our country” – and loyalty to the people of North Carolina. They re-gerrymandered Democratic Congressman Don Davis’ district so a Republican will win it – because Trump told them to. In a recent poll of…

Healing

By Carter Wrenn October 23, 2025

During Prohibition, Al Capone was the most notorious New York tough guy. He didn’t grasp fame until after he moved to Chicago. But in those days no one matched him. In the 1950’s, during the Army–McCarthy hearings, another New York tough guy, a lawyer, Roy Cohn, sitting beside Fightin’ Joe McCarthy pilloried witnesses. McCarthy fumbled.…

A Lost Virtue

By Carter Wrenn October 22, 2025

Years ago back when Reagan was President I met an unknown Texas Congressman – slender, quiet, fearless, Ron Paul was cut from a rare bolt of cloth. I never met his son, Rand, but father and son seem a lot alike: Both doctors, both outspoken but soft-voiced, both polite but fearless. You seldom see men…

That Only Makes Sense in Washington…

By Carter Wrenn October 21, 2025

Kristi Noem’s spending $172 million to buy two small, luxury private jets. For Noem and her department heads to fly around in. Stop a moment, mull that over: We’re drowning in debt – $37.8 trillion in debt. And adding more debt – $1.8 trillion more – each year. But we’re spending $172 million to buy…

Young Republicans, In Their Own Words

By Gary Pearce October 19, 2025

The only thing more offensive – and revealing – than Young Republicans’ ugly texts is JD Vance’s dismissal of them as “what kids do.” The texts, sent by Young Republican leaders around the country, included: “I love Hitler,” “I’m ready to watch people burn now,” and frequent use of f-words, r-words and the n-word. Politico discovered…

$51 Million

By Carter Wrenn October 16, 2025

This is a strange story – the national debt’s $37.8 trillion. Our annual deficit is $1.9 trillion. We’re in debt up to our eyeballs. But, at the same time, the government’s spending more than anyone in the U.S. to run ads – political ads. How much? $51 million. Who’s in the ads? Kristi Noem, Trump…