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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Bail Bonding

By Carter Wrenn October 19, 2011

Some ne’er-do-well over in Johnston County got himself arrested, thrown into jail, hired a bail bondsman, then skipped town leaving the bondsman holding the bag. Which left the bondsman with 20 days to file a motion to get his money back – if he could show the bail jumper had died unexpectedly or been locked…

Smiling Democrats

By Gary Pearce October 18, 2011

There’s fall in the air and, suddenly, there’s spring in the step of Democrats.   Part of it was last week’s elections, especially the prospect of capturing the Wake school board. Part of it is the natural joy Democrats feel when Obama pillories Republicans and big, bad bankers. Part of it is seeing Herman Cain…

Beating Around the Bush

By Carter Wrenn October 18, 2011

Back in the old days hardly anyone noticed when a Governor took a stand. But times have changed. Just look at the newspaper headline: Perdue Announces She Will Take a Stand.   From there the process gets more puzzling.   Before she would announce whether she was for or against the Constitutional Amendment banning gay…

Flawless Logic

By Carter Wrenn October 17, 2011

First President Obama announced he was going to raise taxes on everyone making over $200,000 – then he fell victim to logic; Senator Charles Schumer did the math, looked at the numbers and to Schumer the message was clear: There are a lot more people making over $200,000 than there are people making over $1…

Fair Warning

By Carter Wrenn October 17, 2011

The other morning after she finished reading the obituaries my wife turned to the front page of the newspaper and frowned then declared, That is ridiculous.   Buried in the sports page I muttered, What’s ridiculous?   John Edwards says he can’t be prosecuted because the government didn’t give him ‘fair warning’ he was violating…

Occupy Me?

By Gary Pearce October 17, 2011

The Occupy Wall Street/Washington/Raleigh/etc. protests are a classic example of a political movement that the general public may agree with, at least on some level, but not find agreeable.   In politics, as in physics, every action generates a reaction. The Tea Party movement powered Republicans to victory in 2010, but may drag them to…

Silent and Deadly

By Gary Pearce October 14, 2011

Direct mail is the Ninja assassin of politics. “An icepick to the forehead,” it was called by Dave Gold, who did our direct mail when Jim Hunt beat Jim Gardner in 1992.   That year, we targeted 100,000 swing voters statewide. And bombarded them with a series of mailings about Gardner’s checkered business record. By…

Popish Politics

By Gary Pearce October 13, 2011

There is delicious irony in the juxtaposition of the New Yorker story about Art (“I am not an heir”) Pope and Tuesday’s election.   The New Yorker critique of Pope is that he spent a lot of his money to support tough, negative, independent campaign attacks on Democrats – which helped Republicans win control of…

The Greatest Threat

By Carter Wrenn October 12, 2011

There’s been an outbreak of populism on – of all places on earth – Wall Street. It started when a hardy band of protesters camped out in a small park near the Stock Exchange, waving anti-Obama, anti-Republican, anti-Democrat and anti-Wall Street greed signs. For a while no one paid attention. Then, suddenly, the protesters became…

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…