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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Roy Put NC First

By Gary Pearce July 30, 2024

Like President Biden, Governor Roy Cooper put party and duty ahead of personal political ambition. The President did it when he stepped aside for Vice President Kamala Harris. The Governor did it when he stepped away from VP consideration. This is key from his statement: “This just wasn’t the right time for North Carolina and…

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Cheering Insults: The Price

By Carter Wrenn July 29, 2024

There was ice in the room the first time I met Gary Pearce – we stared at each other across a polished table in a conference room negotiating the Helms-Hunt debates. That campaign was brutal like a prize fight but, at the same time, sitting around that table people on both sides were polite to…

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Coop for Veep

By Gary Pearce July 29, 2024

Home-state pride aside, there are four good reasons Vice President Kamala Harris should pick Governor Roy Cooper. First, together they can carry North Carolina, and Trump can’t win without North Carolina. In 2020, Trump beat Joe Biden by only 1.3% here, and Cooper won reelection by 4.5%. If Cooper – by far the most popular…

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Everything Has Changed

By Gary Pearce July 24, 2024

With one tweet last Sunday afternoon, President Biden transformed the 2024 race – from a same-old, same-old election to a stark choice between past and future, hate and hope, grievance and progress. Suddenly, only one party is trying to elect an 80-year-old President who mixes up names, mangles his thoughts and looks to be in…

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NY Times: Climbing Out on a Limb, Twice.

By Carter Wrenn July 23, 2024

Climbing out on a limb the New York Times led the charge to get Biden out of the race. The day after Biden got out the Times published a chart ranking ten Democrat candidates from the most likely to least likely to beat Trump. At the top of the list was Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro…at…

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History: Two Stories

By Carter Wrenn July 22, 2024

Joe Biden got out of the race. Kamala Harris got in, a legion of Democrats endorsed her, and she raised $50 million in 24 hours. But Harris faces an enigma. Since 1960 Vice Presidents have run for President seven times. Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale and Al Gore all lost. Nixon lost in 1960 but won…

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Power Party

By Gary Pearce July 22, 2024

With President Biden’s age off the agenda, maybe now the media will focus on the Republican Party’s agenda for America. Ronald Reagan’s party of limited government, individual freedom, decentralized power and resistance to totalitarian rule in the world is dead, gone and – after last weeks’ Republican National Convention – buried. The new world order…

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Which Will Do the Least Harm?

By Carter Wrenn July 19, 2024

Did the Good Lord save Trump, touch his soul? Trump says God saved him. And his son says he’s a changed man. So did Trump have a moment in Butler, Pennsylvania like St. Paul on the road to Damascus? For three days in a row Trump sat quietly in the Republican National Convention, smiling –…

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No Quit

By Gary Pearce July 18, 2024

Years of political battles taught me this: You ain’t beat ‘til you quit. There’s too much quit in the Democratic Party right now. Yes, President Biden’s poll numbers are perilous, and pressures on him to quit are enormous. Still, I’m not convinced that Vice President Kamala Harris would be a stronger candidate, even if she…

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Another Story from Politics

By Carter Wrenn December 24, 2024

Watergate sunk Nixon. Jimmy Carter was elected. Two years later Jesse Helms ran for reelection. In…

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Unhappy Holidays?

By Gary Pearce December 24, 2024

We Americans are angry this Christmas. 77 million voters were so angry they elected Trump. 75…

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A Surprise

By Carter Wrenn December 23, 2024

‘You tell a lot of good stories about Reagan, like his saying a prayer for the…

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