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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Paul Ryan is right

By Gary Pearce November 9, 2017

“We’re with Trump,” he said after Tuesday’s elections. Indeed you are.  So is every Republican on the ballot next year. They’re lashed to Trump like Ahab to the whale. If they cross Trump, they lose a primary. If they’re with him, they lose the kind of suburban voters who made Tuesday a rout.  Now, Democrats…

Blindness

By Carter Wrenn November 8, 2017

The NAACP called him ignorant. So did the head of the Congressional Black Caucus. Professors from Harvard, Yale and Columbia called him blind and strange. The Washington Post attacked him. And so did CNN. On Social Media he was also called provocative, dangerous and depressing. It all started when a church in Alexandria, Virginia decided…

Blindness

By Carter Wrenn November 7, 2017

The NAACP called him ignorant. So did the head of the Congressional Black Caucus. Professors from Harvard, Yale and Columbia called him blind and strange. The Washington Post attacked him. And so did CNN. On Social Media he was also called provocative, dangerous and depressing. It all started when a church in Alexandria, Virginia decided…

Boehner’s Boners

By Gary Pearce November 3, 2017

You need a break from Trump, Trump, Trump. So dive into this great (and long) read about what happened to Congress, Washington and the Republican Party over the last 25 years – told through the (famously weepy) eyes of former Speaker John Boehner: “John Boehner Unchained: The former House speaker feels liberated—but he’s also seething…

Trying times for Trump

By Gary Pearce November 1, 2017

Monday’s indictments brought to mind the predictions a wise lawyer made this summer about the Trump-Russia investigation. First, he predicted, Mueller would investigate the people around Trump. If he found possible crimes, he would indict them and offer them a choice: Help the investigation or go to prison. (Twenty years for Manafort.) Then, the lawyer…

Now what?

By Gary Pearce October 30, 2017

Two questions arise now that Manafort and an associate have been charged. Will Trump go full Nixon and fire Mueller? If so, will the Republican Congress stand up for the rule of law? All eyes on Burr and Tillis.

Flake out

By Gary Pearce October 26, 2017

Jeff Flake said it’s time to stand up. Then he said he’ll step down. Bob Corker stood up to Trump, but he’s also stepping down. George W. Bush gave an eloquent speech. But W, Poppy and Low-Energy Jeb are history. John McCain gave a great speech. But he has nothing to lose. For all the…

Upside Down

By Carter Wrenn October 26, 2017

The aging UNC professor who met Miss Bikini World on the Internet then flew to Bolivia to meet her in the flesh but, instead, came face to face with a man standing in front of his hotel in La Paz holding an empty suitcase who said, ‘She left this. Take it to her in Buenos…

Somebody’s Lyin’

By Carter Wrenn October 25, 2017

So Bob Corker fired a broadside at Trump calling the White House an “adult day care center” and Trump fired back at Corker calling him ‘Liddle Bob Corker’ but that wasn’t unusual – this was: Next President Trump claimed Corker had begged to endorse him for reelection and, when Trump told him no, Corker had…

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…