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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Three Americas

By Gary Pearce February 20, 2017

One group of Americans watches Trump on TV, and they see their worst fears come to pass. They see a vain, boastful, arrogant, uninformed con man. They see an administration marked by chaos, cruelty, incompetence, hostility to fundamental constitutional rights and a troubling penchant for making unnecessary enemies and strange friends abroad. Another group of…

Two Worlds

By Carter Wrenn February 20, 2017

Wearing a ‘Make America Great Again’ cap a young man, a supporter of Donald Trump’s, roared, Keep ‘em out – while at a rally miles away a young woman, an anti-Trump protestor, tossing her head, joined the other protestors in chanting, ‘Let ‘em in.’ And unless you watched both Fox News and CNN the two…

Walking Into Traps

By Carter Wrenn February 17, 2017

In chambers filled with polished wood and men in robes speaking in measured cadences, leaning over thick briefs, laboring in pursuit of not perfect justice but, at least, to see enough truth to reach a verdict, three judges stopped pursuing thieves and rapists and swindlers to hold a hearing to decide the Democratic Governor’s lawsuit…

Up in Smoke

By Carter Wrenn February 16, 2017

The phones began ringing and kept on ringing and each caller said the same thing: ‘I want you to hold more ‘Town Hall’ meetings.’ Sensing a groundswell of support for Town Hall Meetings, rolling across their districts, Republican Congressmen accommodated and walked straight into a trap. A few days later, stories began to appear in…

The Ascent

By Carter Wrenn February 15, 2017

Last night, I finished reading Hitler: The Ascent. While working in a shop in Obersalzberg in 1926 Maria Reiter met Hitler. She was 16. And he was 37. Hitler’s next ‘love’ (which isn’t exactly the right word) Geli Raubal was 19 years younger than he was. Unity Mitford – who he met at a Nirenberg…

Reading Tea Leaves

By Carter Wrenn February 14, 2017

He could have been bluffing – like a poker player. Or he could have been maneuvering to gain the upper hand – when he told the Mexican President: Either you agree to pay for the Wall or you cancel our meeting. After the Mexican President said, Meeting cancelled, Trump threatened him saying he’d put a…

I Hit a Home Run

By Carter Wrenn February 13, 2017

“The thing I do best” – Donald Trump was talking about his infrastructure plan – “in life is build.” “That speech was a homerun. They loved it… people loved it” – Trump was describing his speech at the CIA.   He’d make “millions of people” happy, Trump said, with his plan to replace Obamacare. And…

Choosing Allies

By Carter Wrenn February 10, 2017

Sitting in front of a green marble fireplace, interviewing Trump, Bill O’Reilly asked about Putin and Trump said, “It’s better to get along with Russia than not,” and O’Reilly said, “But he’s a killer, though. Putin’s a killer.” Trump paused. Pursed his lips, “There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers.…

Operating on Obamacare

By Gary Pearce February 9, 2017

Donald Trump and congressional Republicans made a big promise in 2016. They would repeal Obamacare. Immediately. Totally. End of discussion. Now, maybe not so much. Republicans on Capitol Hill say the operative word is no longer “repeal.” It’s “repair.” Still, they say, they’ll do it right away. But then Trump says, maybe not so fast.…

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…