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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Super Power

By Gary Pearce August 1, 2011

If reincarnation is real, I want to come back as a credit-rating agency. They apparently are the most powerful beings on the planet.     They even forced Congress to act!

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Is the Center Right?

By Gary Pearce August 1, 2011

If both Tea Party Republicans and Democratic liberals don’t like the debt deal, does that make it a good deal for America?   There is a line of thinking today that what is missing in politics is a “vital center” – those supposed wise men and women who find the right answer to our problems…

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Two Facts about the Debt Ceiling Deal

By Carter Wrenn August 1, 2011

It’s pretty hard to sort through all the facts and figures and the rhetoric and posturing about the latest debt ceiling deal – but two facts seem clear.   President Obama, Speaker Boehner, Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid all say the latest agreement will raise the debt ceiling $2.4 trillion in exchange for $2.5 trillion…

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Secret Sharers

By Gary Pearce July 31, 2011

Two recent stories make the “what were they thinking?” list.   First, the leaders of Peace College kept secret a plan to take the historic school coed, then sprung it as a done deal.   Did they really expect that to go down well?   Then the N.C. Department of Commerce told PCS Phosphate to…

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GOP Joblessness

By Gary Pearce July 30, 2011

Are Democrats asleep? Below are two news reports that ran a week ago. They are rich fodder for North Carolina Democrats to use against Republicans. But I haven’t seen them do it:   “State cuts push up NC jobless rate – North Carolina’s jobless rate rose to 9.9 percent in June, the highest level since…

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Third-Party Dreams

By Gary Pearce July 29, 2011

“We need a third party.”   That’s a recurrent fantasy among citizens and commentators frustrated by the bump and grind of politics as usual, like the current debt-ceiling stalemate in Washington.   Thomas Friedman of the New York Times gave voice to this longing in recent columns.   The fantasy goes like this: A heroic group…

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Tackling Thorp, Baddour

By Gary Pearce July 28, 2011

I’m impressed by the timing of the TAPster who contributed the item below on UNC football. I posted the blog yesterday, timed to go up this morning. Apparently, its mere presence in cyberspace got action.   Bill Friday told the N&O the firing of Davis ends the story. I doubt it.   Chancellor Holden Thorp…

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Fumbling at UNC

By Gary Pearce July 28, 2011

  A TAPster writes “there’s a case to be made that the political leadership of the state should fix the glommed up mess in the UNC football program.”   True, but I think the ball is now in the hands of UNC President Tom Ross. Not UNC-CH Chancellor Holden Thorp; he climbed out on a…

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Long, Hot Summer

By Gary Pearce July 27, 2011

  Maybe it’s the heat. Maybe it’s that the dog days of summer always seem to fire up political passions.   But this debt-ceiling kabuki in Washington has everybody hot and bothered.   Democrats are mad at Republicans, and Republicans are mad at Democrats, of course. But conservative Republicans are also mad at Tea Party…

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Who Pays the Price

By Carter Wrenn February 5, 2025

Wiley lifted his cell phone, held it in the air in front of him, pushed a…

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Going Too Far

By Carter Wrenn February 3, 2025

Cheeks round, pudgy fingers fumbling, Ellmer took a newspaper article out of his briefcase, pushed it…

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Dividing Line

By Gary Pearce February 3, 2025

Trump has done America a big favor: in just two weeks, he’s drawn a bright line…

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