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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At the Zoo

By Gary Pearce October 1, 2013

Sometimes writing this blog is easy. Like today. Below is a reprint – in full, with no cuts or comments – of yesterday’s news release from the Governor’s Communications Office:   Press Release: Governor McCrory visits North Carolina Zoo   Raleigh, NC – Governor Pat McCrory visited the North Carolina Zoo this morning, stopping by Asheboro…

Shutdown Politics

By Gary Pearce September 29, 2013

The shutdown showdown shows how much worse politics is today than in the 1990s. And it was bad then.   Back then, Newt Gingrich shut down the government because…well, nobody can remember why. Except he was mad that President Clinton made him sit in the back of Air Force One. And Newt wanted to show…

A History Lesson

By Carter Wrenn September 27, 2013

It’s an old American saga: The President has a program he’s in love with but can’t muster the votes in Congress to fund it. So he doesn’t get his program.   That’s the way it’s been for over two centuries.   So why, now, isn’t the story coming out of Washington simply, “The President fails…

The Answer…

By Carter Wrenn September 26, 2013

Yesterday I asked why the three camps in Washington – the House Republican Bigwigs in Washington, the House Republican Conservatives in Washington, and President Obama –couldn’t sit down and make a list of the government departments they can agree to keep open and then fund them this week to avoid an absolute government shutdown.  …

Millennial Politics

By Gary Pearce September 26, 2013

Today I suspend Republican-bashing to recommend a provocative political analysis.   Titled “Will Disillusioned Millennials Bring an End to the Reagan-Clinton Era?,” it’s from a professor and Daily Beast contributor named Peter Beinart. It’s long, and it’s worth reading.   Here’s my best shot at a short recap:   For decades now, politics has been…

Friends Falling Out

By Carter Wrenn September 26, 2013

The Governor, it appears, looking at his ailing poll numbers, figured the legislature had landed him in the soup, so it was only prudent to put some distance between himself and the Republican skunks in the General Assembly.   Of course, it’s also sometimes difficult to trace the origin of a smell and to legislators it appears…

Transparency

By Gary Pearce September 25, 2013

A TAPster writes: “At least the Republicans were right when they said they would lead a transparent government. It’s pretty easy to see through their BS.”

A Three-Tribe War

By Carter Wrenn September 25, 2013

With thick smoke clouds billowing out of the Capitol it’s hard to see who’s winning the latest war in Washington – plus, it isn’t a simple us versus them war: It’s a three tribe melee (with two camps of Republicans fighting Obama and each other at the same time).   At first, a couple of…

Wos-ectomy?

By Gary Pearce September 24, 2013

That’s what one TAPster suggests Governor McCrory needs. The question is whether the legislature will perform the procedure.   When the legislature adjourned, the Governor worried that the honorables were dragging down his approval ratings. So he vetoed a couple of bills. That didn’t work out.   Now, GOP legislators worry that the Governor and…

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…

MAGA-gator

By Gary Pearce March 12, 2026

Thom Tillis and Phil Berger fed the MAGA alligator. Then it ate them. Thomas Mills wrote…