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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Undo and Recycle

By Gary Pearce March 18, 2013

A TAPster and veteran of the Raleigh scene says “undoing” and “recycling” are the GOP trademarks thus far.   Last week, he noted: “The GOP focused on un-doing the deal on the Dix property, un-doing the state’s renewable energy policy and un-doing other done deals like the death penalty moratorium.   “In their zeal to…

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Got Tickets?

By Gary Pearce March 15, 2013

A long-time Raleigh lobbyist recalls the days when legislators helped themselves to ACC tournament tickets – courtesy of lobbyists and special interests.   Every year about this time, the demand was so strong that lobbyists felt like Ticketmaster or StubHub.   One mountain legislator – a Democrat, I should add – was especially insistent. He…

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Best in Blogs

By Gary Pearce March 14, 2013

Carter and I finally got elected to something ourselves – sort of. Talking About Politics was named one of the best North Carolina political blogs by The Fix at the Washington Post.   Best of all, we were nominated by readers. We thank you.   Also named from here: @NCCapitol; Progressive Pulse; Watauga Watch; The…

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Saturday Mail

By Carter Wrenn March 13, 2013

Washington may be about to give us an answer on one of the longest running philosophical debates since Eve bit the apple: Are humans rational creatures?   For months, just about every politician in Washington – Republican Congressmen, Democratic Senators, President Obama, Speaker John Boehner – has been talking about how much they want to…

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Fast and Mean

By Gary Pearce March 13, 2013

Two months in, two things are striking about the Republican regime in Raleigh: how fast they move and how mean they seem.   This is a recipe for a Democratic revival, if – and it’s a big if – Democrats get their act together.   Too many politicos – Democrats and Republicans – assume that…

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Watch What They Do, Not What They Say

By Carter Wrenn March 12, 2013

Congressman Walter Jones is an old-fashioned soft-spoken Southerner – so when I saw he’d put a statement on Twitter, I thought, What the heck? I clicked and landed on a statement (Walter had made) that explained just about everything anyone needs to know about the Sequester in one-page.   Last month up in Washington President…

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UNC PR

By Gary Pearce March 11, 2013

Why does a university with so many journalism and PR grads get such bad PR in media outlets where lots of UNC grads work?   After Dan Kane’s report in The News & Observer Sunday – not to mention this weekend’s games – those grads might ask: Why did they hire a Duke guy for…

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A Good Read

By Gary Pearce March 9, 2013

If you want to know how local and state politics, TV news and Raleigh’s whole media/political world got to be the way it is, here’s the book for you.   It’s “I Never Promised Not to Tell,” a tell-almost-all by Grady Jefferys, a veteran writer-ad man-journalist-consultant who was there, as he says, “When Television and…

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White House Tours

By Carter Wrenn March 8, 2013

President Obama just announced the Sequester spending cuts are so terrible he has no choice but to cancel White House tours;—that upset House Speaker John Boehner who immediately cried foul, saying Obama was grandstanding and he (Boehner) had kept the Capitol tours running and Obama could have done the same thing – which is no…

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Spinning Tales

By Carter Wrenn March 3, 2025

Trump growled Zelensky started the Ukraine war. John Bolton said Trump was wrong. Angry, my friend…

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Vanished

By Gary Pearce March 3, 2025

Ronald Reagan stood at the Berlin Wall and stood up to what he called the “Evil…

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Anything Goes…

By Carter Wrenn February 26, 2025

Back when Rod Blagojevich ran for governor of Illinois, Obama endorsed him and Trump gave his…

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