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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Ted Cruz: A Glimmer of Conversation

By Carter Wrenn March 26, 2015

Folks who vote in Republican primaries, if asked, will tell you they’re Conservative and most will firmly add they’re Very Conservative as opposed to A Little Conservative.   In the uncompromising depth of his conservative beliefs, Ted Cruz is their cup of tea.   But…   It’s hard to put your finger on that ‘but…’…

Politics As Usual

By Gary Pearce March 25, 2015

Sometimes in politics you have to rise above principle.   Republicans vow to resist fight President Obama’s “redistributionist” economic policies. Then GOP legislators plot to redistribute sales tax revenues from urban (Democratic) to rural (Republican) counties.   Senator Ted Cruz vows to repeal Obamacare. Then he signs up for insurance under Obamacare.   Governor McCrory…

ISIS – Atrocity of the Day

By Carter Wrenn March 25, 2015

Yesterday in Mosul, the New York Times reports, a man and woman were handcuffed then stoned by ISIS for adultery.   Later in the day ISIS took three young men from their uncle’s home and beheaded then in a public street after hearing a rumor the uncle had met with a Kurdish leader.

Looking for a Voice

By Carter Wrenn March 24, 2015

With the Irish Prime Minister sitting beside him, Obama said Republicans are against education. Infrastructure. Research. The things needed to create jobs. National defense. And the middle class.   Then having thrown down the gauntlet, and concisely summed up how he felt about the Republican budget, the President rolled out the welcome mat for the…

Holdering On

By Gary Pearce March 23, 2015

Ex-Congressman Barney Frank suggests this slogan for Democrats: “We’re not perfect, but they’re nuts.”   Take the GOP’s hard-line opposition to Loretta Lynch’s nomination as Attorney General. On one of Sunday’s talk shows, a Republican said the Senate shouldn’t even vote on her nomination. Why? Because, he said, she’ll continue the policies of current AG…

Pat and Phil

By Carter Wrenn March 23, 2015

Pat and Phil don’t gee and haw.   Awhile back, after the Coal Ash Spill, Pat went to work cleaning up the mess, then Phil  passed a bill to have a Commission take over the job – which got Pat’s hackles up.   Pat said the Constitution was written in black and white and no…

The Future is Now

By Gary Pearce March 20, 2015

Going back to the days of Terry Sanford and Jim Hunt, Young Democrats were a breeding ground for extraordinary leaders. But the current crop may become the best ever.   I spent several hours in Chapel Hill Saturday morning at the annual state convention of YDs, College Dems and Teen Dems. They are just as…

Justice for Jamie

By Gary Pearce March 19, 2015

Off and on the last month I’ve been uncharacteristically uninterested in blogging or even talking about politics. It generally happened after I sat in on the trial of the man who murdered Jamie Kirk Hahn, tried to murder Nation Hahn and in a real sense took the lives of many people in their families.  …

Waking Up

By Gary Pearce March 17, 2015

Yes, the Republicans’ Wake County power grab is raw, cynical politics. But it could help Democrats win legislative seats, the Governor’s Office, the U.S. Senate race and even a U.S. Senate majority and the Presidency next year.   Wake is the biggest-voting county and the biggest swing-vote county in a big state that could decide…

Another School Study? Yes.

By Gary Pearce March 19, 2026

Some progressives groaned when Governor Josh Stein announced a bipartisan “Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Education”…

Independents Turn Against GOP

By Gary Pearce March 17, 2026

North Carolina voters don’t like either the Democratic or Republican parties. But Independent voters – who…

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…