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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Will NC Decide GOP Race?

By Gary Pearce February 28, 2012

I hope North Carolina Republicans get to do this year what North Carolina Democrats did in 2008: decide their party’s presidential race.   Obama clinched the nomination when he won North Carolina’s primary, according to none less than the late Tim Russert of NBC.   So I’m pulling for Rick Santorum to win tonight –…

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‘Real’ Christians

By Gary Pearce February 27, 2012

“Republicans being against sex is not good. Sex is popular.” – Republican strategist Alex Castellanos   A long, hard-fought presidential nominating race doesn’t hurt Republicans by leaving them divided. They’ll unite against President Obama. No, it hurts with voters in the middle.   First there’s this obsession about whether President Obama is “real” Christian. Franklin…

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Santorum’s Contraception Obsession

By Gary Pearce February 24, 2012

Rick Santorum, who wants to take America back to 1900, takes me back to 1984.   That was the year of the Hunt-Helms race. In the dying days, we were behind in the polls – and desperate. With the help of (believe it or not) Dick Morris, we came up with a bomb to blow…

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Why Fool Around…with Lt. Governor

By Carter Wrenn February 23, 2012

Talk about manna from heaven, Linda Coleman must be thanking her lucky stars – the State Employees’ Union just announced it’s going to spend $1.8 million to elect her and defeat Eric Mansfield in the Democratic Primary for Lt. Governor.   The State Employees’ Union has charged into Super PAC land with a passion but…

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Democrats and 2012

By Gary Pearce February 23, 2012

There’s good news for Democrats looking ahead to the fall elections. But then there is really, really bad news.   The good news is that Obama can carry the state again. He will play hard – and spend heavy – here. That will turn out votes for the entire ticket.   Also good: the bitter…

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Gone Too Far

By Carter Wrenn February 22, 2012

Campaigning up in Ohio last weekend Rick Santorum allowed that President Obama’s politics springs from his ‘world view’ which in turn springs from “some phony theology, not a theology based on the Bible.”   Obama’s campaign immediately shot back in a white heat that Santorum had just questioned the President’s Christianity.   And Santorum answered…

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Reading Ayn Rand

By Gary Pearce February 22, 2012

Champions of academic freedom are scandalized, but I think this is a wonderful idea: making college students read Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged.”   The Guilfordian, Guilford College’s campus paper, reports on a grant to the college by one of Art (“I Am Not an Heir”) Pope’s groups:   “The ten-year grant for $500,000 that Guilford…

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Tata Tantrum

By Gary Pearce February 22, 2012

Tony Tata is the Karl Hess of school superintendents: a click too sensitive to criticism.   (Memo to all – and self: The next time you get mad at somebody, feel free to compose a blistering e-mail to them. Then immediately hit “Delete.” You won’t regret it.)   Tata had won over a lot of…

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Immunity

By Carter Wrenn February 21, 2012

Last year when I decided to work with the trial lawyers I took a fair amount of razzing from my Republican friends – among Republicans, lawyers are not as unpopular as the Huns but it’s close. As best as I can tell the last lawyer Republicans admired was Cicero.   Anyhow, last year there were two…

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How Democrats Win Again

By Gary Pearce March 10, 2025

The shouting, sign-waving and cane-wielding by congressional Democrats at the State of the Union isn’t a…

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Deborah Ross’ Rx

By Gary Pearce March 7, 2025

Curmudgeonly Cajun James Carville says Democrats just need to “roll over and play dead” and wait…

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Puzzling

By Carter Wrenn March 7, 2025

Trump raised tariffs. Said tariffs are beautiful. The next day, about facing, said automakers didn’t have…

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