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.

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Carter Wrenn

Gary Pearce 2024

Gary Pearce

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Scoop Breaks Record

By Carter Wrenn May 22, 2017

Imagine: A reporter leaning over a computer, eyes locked on Donald Trump’s face, watches the President’s lips begin to move, hears the words ‘Great,’ ‘Huge’ and ‘Fake News’ and goes a little berserk – then the phone rings and a voice says sitting in the Oval Office with the Russian Ambassador the President did the…

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Follow the Money

By Gary Pearce May 17, 2017

That’s the guidance Deep Throat gave Bob Woodward through Watergate. It also applies to Trumpgate. (Of course, it’s hard to follow anything given the velocity with which Trump is trampling the government, national security and the Constitution.) With Trump, it’s always about the money. His money. That’s his Russia tie. Not just the long red one…

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Show Business

By Carter Wrenn May 16, 2017

CNN said Roger told Donald he ought to fire Comey and Donald Tweeted “Fake news. Have not spoken to Roger in a long time.” Then Roger told ABC he’d spoken to Donald “very recently.” It was an odd sort of disagreement between two old friends that left ‘Trumpistas’ angry, liberals outraged and the media in…

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2 Tyrants, 1 Leader

By Gary Pearce May 15, 2017

Trump saw the FBI on his trail. So he fired Comey. Senate Boss Berger was enraged that Democrats had the gall to propose amendments to his budget. So at 3 am he rammed through an amendment taking money away from schools in Democratic districts. Those were the actions of tyrants. There’s another way. Governor Cooper…

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Mill Wheels

By Carter Wrenn May 12, 2017

It was part circus and part melodrama but the mill wheels were grinding, even if it left you shaking your head: On Twitter Trump was hollering ‘Ask her who leaked the classified information’ and, at the same time, the Democrats were howling ‘Prove Flynn was Trump’s go-between with the Russians.’ A trio of Republican Senators…

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Katie-Bar-the-Door

By Carter Wrenn May 8, 2017

He leaned forward pouring over page after page of numbers, searching for a lodestar, then stopped: ‘Republicans are dropping. Democrats are dropping. Independents are going up. There’ll be more registered Independents than Republicans by the end of the year,’ he said and I asked, ‘Did you see Pat McCrory’s TV interview?’      ‘You mean where…

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A Temptation He Can’t Resist

By Carter Wrenn May 5, 2017

“I was all set to terminate. I looked forward to terminating. I was going to do it,” Trump told the reporter. But he didn’t terminate so, in the next breath, he was telling the reporter, “I get a call from Mexico yesterday, ‘We hear you’re going to terminate NAFTA.’ I said that’s right. They said,…

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The Pond-Skater

By Carter Wrenn May 3, 2017

David Brooks, the columnist, felt a sea-change. Last fall, before the election, liberals saw Donald Trump as a buffoon who couldn’t possibly win the election then, on Election Night, right in front of their eyes, the clown turned into a dragon. After the election – as the dragon headed for Washington – the shaken liberals…

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No Quit in Him

By Carter Wrenn May 2, 2017

To show strength, he said he’d ordered an aircraft carrier to sail straight north to North Korea – then the Pentagon released a photograph of the carrier sailing straight south away from Korea. He pounds the Washington Politicians but, despite his threats, his wall’s stuck in Congress, his immigration plan’s stuck in the courts, and…

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Stein’s Party Lines

By Gary Pearce January 14, 2025

Governor Josh Stein wisely ignored my semi-serious suggestion that he devote his inaugural speech to denouncing…

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Disaster Duty

By Gary Pearce January 12, 2025

Climate change has changed governors’ jobs. They now must be masters of disasters: floods, fires, hurricanes…

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The Past, Never Past, Just Keeps Repeating Itself

By Carter Wrenn January 10, 2025

The Past, Never Past, Just Keeps Repeating Itself Off and running, campaign racing down the road,…

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