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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Crazy Dust, Democratic Style

By Gary Pearce July 6, 2015

Carter blogged that, with Donald Trump polling in second place in the Republican race for President, some of his opponents might wonder whether “some evil genie popped out of a bottle and spewed crazy-dust all over Republican voters.” Well, Democrats take second place to none when it comes to crazy dust. How else do you…

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The Jewel in the Crown

By Carter Wrenn July 6, 2015

When the scandal broke five years ago – after a ‘tweet’ by a tackle on the football team – the wise men at UNC faced a choice: Fess-up or cover-up. They covered-up. And eight media organizations sued because they wouldn’t make public records available to the press. Three months later, skating on thinner and thinner…

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Crazy Dust

By Carter Wrenn July 3, 2015

Good Lord – in three new polls Donald Trump is in second place in the Republican primary for President. Trump trails only Bush in New Hampshire; only Walker in Iowa; and only Bush nationally (Bush 19%; Trump 12%). Imagine standing in Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio or Rand Paul’s shoes: You’ve sweated and strained and sacrificed…

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“Just who do we think we are?”

By Gary Pearce July 2, 2015

That’s the anguished question Chief Justice John Roberts asked in his dissent to the Supreme Court’s decision on same-sex marriage. He wrote: “…the Court invalidates the marriage laws of more than half the States and orders the transformation of a social institution that has formed the basis of human society for millennia, for the Kalahari…

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Old-Fashioned

By Carter Wrenn July 2, 2015

Four separate reports – two done for the State Medicaid Department, one done for federal Medicare, and one by the non-profit Community Care of North Carolina filed with State Medicaid – all said CCNC saved taxpayers millions of dollars by reducing Medicaid costs. So what did the Old Bull Mooses in the Senate do? They…

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The End of Bullying

By Carter Wrenn June 30, 2015

The rhubarb had a keystone cops air but what started it was deadly enough: A combination of a bully and power. By nature he wasn’t particularly unkind and, in the past, he hadn’t enjoyed bullying but he had the power and he’d used it before to punish Congressmen who’d crossed him and he’d gotten away…

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Striking the Flag

By Gary Pearce June 29, 2015

As even Southern Republicans retreat from the Confederate flag, and as the inevitable counter-reaction begins, I’m reminded of a battle over the battle flag almost 40 years ago. It was in 1977, the first year of Governor Hunt’s first term. One fine spring day, as we arrived at the Capitol in Raleigh, we were startled…

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Two Religions

By Carter Wrenn June 29, 2015

His father was a carpenter and his mother a five foot blonde with hair down to her ankles and they’d divorced three years before he was born. His father remarried, abused his second wife, and divorced again when he was fourteen. After the second divorce he dropped out of school in the 9th grade, drank…

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The Stars and Stripes

By Carter Wrenn June 25, 2015

He’d been doing business for thirty years and if what he’d been doing wasn’t illegal like selling moonshine it also wasn’t quite the same as being President of the local bank or owner of the corner drug store: When someone got into a bind he’d pay them cold hard cash on the barrel head for…

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Women Warriors

By Gary Pearce January 19, 2025

The Democratic Party needs to get tougher, and that’s a job for Democratic women. Sydney Batch…

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Lost Truth

By Carter Wrenn January 16, 2025

Back in the old days three TV networks – ABC, NBC, CBS – ruled the news;…

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Biden’s Warning

By Gary Pearce January 16, 2025

In his farewell address, President Biden warned that “an oligarchy is taking shape in America of…

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