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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Shut Up

By Gary Pearce December 2, 2013

So long as politicians exercise – and abuse – power, we need the press and professors around to question power. But it looks like Republicans in Raleigh want to shut down questions and shut up critics.   This after Governor McCrory promised to run an open, transparent administration.   First, McCrory’s highly paid PR flacks…

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Kennedy’s Cup of Tea?

By Gary Pearce November 29, 2013

Thanks to Senator Bob Rucho for serving up a heaping holiday helping of hilarity: “JFK could have been the founder and leader of the Tea Party.”   Let’s let JFK answer himself. In the 1960 campaign, he said: “I have yet to hear of one single original piece of new, progressive legislation of benefit to…

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Other People’s Money

By Carter Wrenn November 27, 2013

It wasn’t exactly subtle the other morning when the newspaper ran two stories side by side: One about a single mother who works all day and then works three additional jobs nights and weekends to make ends meet – and a second story about the Director of the Raleigh Housing Authority.   It turns out every year…

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Thankful for Thanksgiving

By Gary Pearce November 27, 2013

It’s the best holiday of all. It’s food, family, friends and football. It’s an all-too-brief pause before the mindless consumerism, stressed-out shopping and forced cheer of Christmas.   Only Americans could come up with Thanksgiving. Like July 4th, it’s all ours and All-American. July 4th is food, family, friends and the beach. But it’s for…

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Kennedy and Obama

By Gary Pearce November 26, 2013

As if I didn’t get enough JFK last week, I’m reading a new book about how Kennedy, in his last months, was growing into and getting better at the roles of President, politician and persuader-in-chief.   If only President Obama could summon some of that mojo now on Obamacare.   The book (“JFK’s Last Hundred…

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McCroryisms

By Gary Pearce November 25, 2013

There he goes again: “We didn’t shorten early voting, we compacted the calendar.” Now, that’s positively Orwellian. And it’s the latest in a long string of eye-catching – and embarrassing – statements by Governor McCrory.   Two weeks ago, John Frank wrote in the N&O: “At least a dozen times in his first 10 months…

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Behind the Curtain?

By Carter Wrenn November 22, 2013

Farmers are saying they’ve tried and tried but there’s no way on earth they can hire enough workers to pick the apples and cucumbers and sweet potatoes germinating in the fields so Congress had better get in gear and pass immigration reform jack-rabbit-quick to legalize undocumented immigrants (which is the farmers’ polite way of saying…

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Humility

By Carter Wrenn November 21, 2013

The train wreck hit so unexpectedly and with such force that, after standing his ground through the opening chaos, the President retreated which turned out to be like pouring gas on the fire – the partisan bickering soared. And Obama’s poll numbers tanked. And now listening to the wise men in Washington that was all…

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JFK

By Gary Pearce November 21, 2013

Those of us who remember November 22, 1963, must be a mystery to those of you who don’t. Why do we watch the same clips over and over? Why does it still affect us 50 years later?   To start with, it was our first shared televised grief. TV was still new in 1963. It…

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Tillis’ Fate

By Gary Pearce April 10, 2025

Senator Thom Tillis wants to have it both ways. He wants MAGA Republicans to think he’s…

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Who’s After Publicity…

By Carter Wrenn April 10, 2025

Trump railed about radical left judges taking away his power, usurping his presidency, fumed one judge…

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Bad News for Us

By Carter Wrenn April 9, 2025

Lips pursed, standing at the front of her elementary school classroom, during the Cuban Missile Crisis,…

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