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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Jim Hunt’s Gift

By Gary Pearce December 19, 2024

Forty years ago this month, at a low point in his political career, Jim Hunt had his best idea. It became the Centennial Campus at North Carolina State University. You can argue with “best.” He had plenty of good ideas and initiatives. Like: Smart Start, raising teachers’ pay to the national average, the Primary Reading…

Surprises

By Carter Wrenn December 18, 2024

Scratching the Surface Broadcasting live on the radio from Grovers Mill, New Jersey on Halloween night 86 years ago a stunned reporter watched Martians leaving a spacecraft, blasting policemen with heat rays. Panic swept across New Jersey. But he wasn’t a reporter he was an actor reading The War of the Worlds on Orson Wells…

Missing the Mark

By Gary Pearce December 16, 2024

This story from Axios Charlotte was either a cheap bid for clicks or revealed a basic ignorance of how state government works. The headline: “Cooper, Robinson have no record of speaking in days before, after or during Helene.” It began like “Breaking News” on CNN: “North Carolina’s governor and his next-in-command seemingly had zero communication…

Going Pro

By Gary Pearce December 12, 2024

I’m a Wolfpack fan. I like going to games and yelling, “go to hell, Carolina!” I liked watching Dave Doeren’s teams beat Mack Brown’s four times in a row. I don’t fault Carolina for hiring Bill Belichick. UNC just recognized reality: college sports have gone pro. Some Carolina fans are bewildered by their university spending…

Vanity

By Carter Wrenn December 12, 2024

Trump’s on the way back to the White House, the MAGA movement’s more powerful than ever – so is it about to Make America Great Again? Back in 1776 the 13 colonies had next to no power – while Great Britain, an empire, was a superpower. Four days after the Declaration of Independence passed, George…

Fanning Fires

By Carter Wrenn December 11, 2024

Back during the election as Trump battled Harris – on TV, across social media, on websites – pundits on both the left and right fanned fires. And hordes of people cheered. Harris lost, Matt Gaetz strode onto the stage, new fires spread. Gaetz got out – fire spreaders locked eyes on Pete Hegseth, talking about…

The Trump Threat

By Gary Pearce December 11, 2024

President-elect Trump said two things on Meet the Press Sunday that should set off alarm bells across America: he’ll pardon the January 6 thugs and traitors “on Day One” and the members of Congress who investigated the Capitol attack “should be in jail.” That is dictator talk. Yet, the media treated it as just another…

Rays of Light

By Gary Pearce December 6, 2024

Too many Democrats are too quick to draw too-sweeping conclusions about why Kamala Harris lost and what the party needs to do now. Usually, their prescriptions mirror their preconceptions. Bernie Sanders says we lost touch with the working class. James Carville says we went too woke. Some Democrats blame President Biden. Some say Harris was…

Fight for Justice

By Gary Pearce December 4, 2024

We may be tired and tapped out after a long campaign, or drained and dreading the looming Trump disaster. But a critically important election remains unresolved in North Carolina, and Republicans are trying to steal it. The outcome of Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs’ reelection fight could decide the course of North Carolina politics through…

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…

Enough is Enough

By Gary Pearce March 11, 2026

Exactly 80 years ago, in 1946, Republicans took control of Congress with a simple message: “Had…