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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Running With Randall

By Gary Pearce October 10, 2011

Dr. Randall Williams’ brief political career is liable to end in today’s election. Which I regret, because he could give Raleigh politics a refreshing – and recurring – regimen of: “What’s with that?”   Like his haircut. (Click here.) What’s with that?   Then there’s the odd, full-page ad in The N&O today.  What’s with…

How to Win Friends Political Style (It Beats Dale Carnegie)

By Carter Wrenn October 10, 2011

It didn’t work out too well when Congress went into the home loan business a couple of years ago – so it seems odd the Raleigh City Council wants to do the same thing.   However, just about everyone in town seems to think passing a bond to borrow millions so the Council can make…

How to Make Friends the Political Way – Part II

By Carter Wrenn October 10, 2011

The other borrowing the Raleigh City Council has put on the ballot is a Transportation Bond. Which sounds like the Council wants to borrow money to repair potholes and build new streets. Except the newspaper reported three-fourths of the money isn’t for roads.   Almost everyone it seems is for this bond too. And if…

Too Much for Ellmers!

By Gary Pearce October 8, 2011

How bad can the constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages be if it’s too much for Renee Ellmers?   According to Under the Dome, the congresswoman’s spokesman “confirmed that she planned to vote against the constitutional ban that was adopted by the legislature in September because it is too broadly drawn.”   It would ban civil…

McCrory’s Tease

By Gary Pearce October 7, 2011

Julie Rose at WFAE public radio in Charlotte tagged Pat McCrory’s announcement-that-he-will-have-an-announcement-later: “Nothing excites donors or attracts free publicity like a good tease.”   She also pointed out that McCrory announced he’s delaying his “big announcement” because “campaigns have become too long and too costly.”   This from a man who has been running since…

The Left’s Tea Party?

By Gary Pearce October 6, 2011

A TAPster asks: Is the Occupy Wall Street protest “a moment or a movement?”   Is it a new political wave that, as the Tea Party shaped the 2010 election, will shape the 2012 election?   The Tea Party took off two years ago – ironically, sparked by a CNBC reporter’s rant on Wall Street…

Vindication!

By Gary Pearce October 6, 2011

I have an apology from The New Yorker – and a correction (online, at least).   The reporter, Jane Mayer, called me to apologize. She said she was “totally mortified” that her Art Pope story identified me as former executive director of the North Carolina Democratic Party. My biographical information apparently got mixed us with…

This Is It?

By Gary Pearce October 5, 2011

Jilted by Chris Christie, the Republican search for Ronald Reagan Redux goes on.   You know things are bad when Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich are rising in the polls.   Already, Michelle Bachman and Rick Perry have soared – and then plummeted. But they distinguished themselves by performing a feat no one thought possible:…

Stop Whining

By Gary Pearce October 4, 2011

The New Yorker article about Art Pope takes me back to the 1980s. Then, my fellow Democrats were whining about the money, power and evil influence of Jesse Helms’ Congressional Club. Now, they’re whining about the money, power and evil influence of Art Pope.   Stop whining. Get to work. Find our Art Pope.  …

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…