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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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…

The Island

By Carter Wrenn October 24, 2017

Gene Nichol, who’s the former Dean of the UNC Law School, and who may be the most politically correct man in North Carolina, tore into the new UNC Board of Governors saying right wing politics is taking over the university and the Board is to blame.   It’s difficult to tell whether Dean Nichol’s broadside…

Rants on Facebook

By Carter Wrenn October 23, 2017

I’ve heard men say for years that the West’s Christian heritage is the root of our freedoms but I’d never seen anyone point to one Bible verse and say, See. Read that. That’s how it began – until William Bennett did it in Tried by Fire. From prison St. Paul the Apostle wrote to the…

The content of his character

By Gary Pearce October 23, 2017

Only Trump can turn what should have been a sympathetic call to a fallen soldier’s widow into a week-long (so far), racially charged brouhaha over who said what to who and who can say what to a four-star general. Americans may not be tired of winning yet. But many, even Trump voters, are getting tired…

The anti-democratic (small d) party

By Gary Pearce October 19, 2017

Some Republicans have the annoying habit of calling us “the Democrat Party.” It’s an old slur, dating back to the 1940s and 1950s. Maybe “slur” is too strong a word. “Democrat Party” is more an insulting, annoying, derisive epithet. It conjures up “autocrat” or “bureaucrat” or just plain “rat.” When he was Speaker of the…

Digging our own grave online

By Gary Pearce October 17, 2017

Back in the 1950s, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev boasted that “We will bury you.” Vladimir Putin figured out that if he just gave us the right tools, we’d bury ourselves. A spate of news stories explores how Russian misinformation (fake news) combined with Americans’ own rage and with our addiction to social media to affect…

The good news and the bad news for Democrats in Raleigh’s Mayoral race

By Gary Pearce October 16, 2017

The good news: Democrats are fired up and ready to vote. The bad news: They’re fired up at each other and ready to start a civil war. Nancy McFarlane says Charles Francis’s decision to call a runoff will “divide those who share progressive values.” And her supporters say Francis has been known to consort with…

Political Shots Fired

By Gary Pearce April 28, 2026

The political sniping began even as chaos still reigned at the White House Correspondents Dinner. My…

Obama 48-Trump 39

By Gary Pearce April 26, 2026

A new nationwide poll shows that, if they could run against each other in 2028, Barack…

“Conservative Successes”?

By Gary Pearce April 23, 2026

Senator Phil Berger was out of touch with voters in his district – and suffered the…