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.

CarterWrenn200x271

Carter Wrenn

Gary Pearce 2024

Gary Pearce

Archives

Categories

GOP Mini-Me’s

By Gary Pearce February 21, 2012

The GOP 13th Congressional District race looks like a mini-version of the Republican presidential race.   George Holding is playing the part of Mitt Romney: establishment conservative focusing on cutting spending and deficits (and ignoring the reality that Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush gave us the biggest deficits ever).   Paul Coble…

Cross Your Fingers

By Gary Pearce February 21, 2012

Can Democrats get so lucky? Will the Republicans really nominate Rick Santorum?   I had high hopes for Newt Gingrich. But, once again, he has proven to be the Hindenburg of American politics: a huge vessel of hot air doomed to go down in flames.   Clearly, Mitt Romney would be the toughest Republican in…

PR 101 – for Refs, Too

By Gary Pearce February 20, 2012

Listen up, ACC execs and refs: Any Big Shot today has to be open, honest and accountable. No comment and not answering questions won’t cut it.   Full disclosure: I was at the State game Saturday, and I’m a big fan of the Pack. But I pride myself on never getting after the refs (they’re…

A Jobs Plan

By Gary Pearce February 19, 2012

A Democratic TAPster offers these thoughts “Re – Caterpillar and others over the past several months:   “If I were running for governor (and I’m not but have to admit I think I could beat the current group of contenders) I would come out in favor of corporate incentives. I would state I will not…

Click Button, File Form

By Carter Wrenn February 17, 2012

A Republican filed to run for State House and no sooner had he filed than he was told he had to fill out a second form called a Financial Disclosure Report – so he went to the State Ethics Commission’s website and found the form then ran head on into a bureaucratic maze.   When…

Playing by House Rules

By Gary Pearce February 17, 2012

What would have happened two years ago if then-Speaker Joe Hackney had ordered Capitol police to clear away a group of Tea Party demonstrators on the second floor of the Legislative Building?   Republicans no doubt would be in high dudgeon over such high-handed action. The Tea Party would be in a frenzy over “police-state…

Broken Record

By Gary Pearce February 16, 2012

Pat McCrory hasn’t yet figured out how to deal with not having Bev Perdue to kick around any more.   He said at his filing that he’s running against “broken government.” Well, who isn’t?   As questions he got showed, “broken government” can mean the legislature as well as the executive branch.   And McCrory…

We’ve Heard this Before

By Carter Wrenn February 16, 2012

Obama’s new budget is out and the more things change the more they remain the same – he’s increasing the deficit (from $1.3 to $1.33 trillion) and increasing spending, but big cuts are coming somewhere down the road.   Obama’s been running that same flim-flam, promising big cuts down the road since he was elected…

Berger and The N&O

By Gary Pearce February 16, 2012

A TAPster who has watched a succession of politicians tangle with the N&O was struck by Senate Leader Phil Berger’s letter to the editor Tuesday, especially the end:   “Interestingly, the editorial opines that the state’s Legislative Building is a ‘hot-air factory where opponents of the Racial Justice Act seemingly will say anything …’ Clearly,…

Political Shots Fired

By Gary Pearce April 28, 2026

The political sniping began even as chaos still reigned at the White House Correspondents Dinner. My…

Obama 48-Trump 39

By Gary Pearce April 26, 2026

A new nationwide poll shows that, if they could run against each other in 2028, Barack…

“Conservative Successes”?

By Gary Pearce April 23, 2026

Senator Phil Berger was out of touch with voters in his district – and suffered the…