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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A Penny

By Carter Wrenn December 4, 2017

Ambling out the door, crossing the lawn to the waiting helicopter, the President stopped as the reporters shouted questions: Did he support Roy Moore? Did he believe Roy Moore’s accusers? Is an accused child molester better than a Democrat? In a Trumpian flurry he answered, Well, he denies it. Look, he denies it…He totally denies…

This should do the trick

By Gary Pearce December 1, 2017

The Republican tax bill should pretty much cinch a big Democratic year in 2018. The bill does exactly what Americans suspect Republicans want to do: reward their big donors at the expense of everybody else. When you take away a tax break for teachers who pay out of their pockets for school supplies – and…

A Simple Fact

By Carter Wrenn November 30, 2017

There’re a lot of reasons for blindness: Fear, Innocence and hard whiskey are three. For former UNC Law School Dean Gene Nichol, when he sat down to read exit polls in the Washington Post, I suspect the problem may have been Ideology. He’s Politically Correct – for example, when he was President of William and…

Pixelated

By Carter Wrenn November 29, 2017

The day after Thanksgiving President Trump tweeted “Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named ‘Man (Person) of the Year’ like last year…I said probably is no good and took a pass.” An official at Time tweeted back there wasn’t a ‘speck of truth’ in Trump’s tweet. And the internet…

Race, rage and Democrats

By Gary Pearce November 22, 2017

My last blog quoted Jim Messina, President Obama’s 2012 campaign manager, on Trump’s tweets. There’s another point in Messina’s article that deserves attention: “…(A) debate has developed within some of the Democratic Party about whether we should focus on the white working-class voters or what pollsters call the ‘rising American electorate,’ which is usually defined…

You Won’t Believe Who’s Not a Good Democrat

By Carter Wrenn November 21, 2017

Well, Gary, I never dreamed I’d see it: I opened the newspaper and Democrats were saying Jim Hunt is not a good Democrat. The Democratic Party endorsed Nancy McFarlane, an Independent, in her previous races for Mayor but this time the party switched and endorsed Charles Francis – but Governor Hunt stayed with McFarlane, so…

Tweet defeat

By Gary Pearce November 20, 2017

Maybe Democrats should stop saying Trump should stop tweeting. He may be tweeting himself into a hole he can’t dig out of. This thought comes from Jim Messina, President Obama’s 2012 campaign manager, in Politico, “Trump’s Tweets Are Hurting Him With the Voters He Needs Most.” Messina wrote: “Progressives across the country should be driving…

A Double Standard?

By Carter Wrenn November 20, 2017

It was an odd article. About two Donald Trump tweets. First, NBC reported that after a gunman killed 26 people in Texas, President Trump tweeted: May God be with the people of Sutherland Springs, Texas. Then NBC compared that tweet to another tweet by Trump after the terrorist attack in New York City – when…

Giving thanks

By Gary Pearce November 17, 2017

During this Thanksgiving season, Democrats give thanks to the Republican Party for the gifts you’re giving us. Thanks for Trump, the gift that keeps on giving. Thanks to Trump for tweeting about Al Franken’s sexual-harassment incident – and reminding us that Trump has about 20. Thanks to Trump for scaring the bejeesus out of swing…

Getting the News

By Gary Pearce March 13, 2026

How do you get your news? Our statewide poll asked North Carolina voters what their primary…

MAGA-gator

By Gary Pearce March 12, 2026

Thom Tillis and Phil Berger fed the MAGA alligator. Then it ate them. Thomas Mills wrote…

Enough is Enough

By Gary Pearce March 11, 2026

Exactly 80 years ago, in 1946, Republicans took control of Congress with a simple message: “Had…