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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Blow-up

By Gary Pearce June 15, 2010

The worst wounds in politics are self-inflicted. And Bob Etheridge has delivered himself a doozie of a boo-boo.   Getting caught on tape looking like a bully is not helpful in an election year that already looks toxic for incumbents.   But Etheridge can survive this.   He made a good start by apologizing on…

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Emoter-in-Chief

By Gary Pearce June 14, 2010

What’s with this mania about whether President Obama has shown enough anger over the BP oil spill?   Is this the legacy of Bill Clinton, who so famously felt our pain?   Or that old actor Ronald Reagan, who could muster a catch in the throat and a flash of anger at the drop of…

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Bev at War

By Gary Pearce June 11, 2010

I would have missed this one but for Seth Effron’s Quick Clips: “Perdue declares ‘war’ against school resegregation”(The Wilmington Journal).   The Journal reported:   Declaring that the state was ”in a war,” Governor Beverly Perdue told members of the NC Legislative Black Caucus last weekend that she, as a citizen, fully supported the efforts…

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Old Guvs Rule

By Gary Pearce June 10, 2010

Tuesday’s primaries across the county were good for women candidates. And old governors didn’t do too badly.   California Democrats nominated Jerry Brown for governor again. Brown, 72, served as governor from 1975-1983.   Iowa Republicans nominated Terry Branstad for a return engagement. Branstad, 63, was governor from 1983-1999.   Both were fellow governors with…

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Does He or Doesn’t He?

By Carter Wrenn June 9, 2010

Here’s a mystery: Bill Randall says he has an MBA from National Louis University, but National Louis University says he doesn’t. Bernie Reeves’ friend, who runs a company that recruits and screens executives for businesses, contacted National Louis University (in Illinois) to verify Randall’s MBA degree. The college instructed him to contact the National Student…

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Golden Oldie

By Gary Pearce June 9, 2010

Cal Cunningham may be a young gun, but he’s firing an old Democratic bullet: Social Security.   Cunningham’s campaign is battering Elaine Marshall because she “suggested raising the current retirement age of 67 to receive full Social Security benefits.”   Cunningham sent an email this week proclaiming, “I went on the record to commit to…

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Mad Hatters

By Gary Pearce June 8, 2010

Rob Christensen’s column about the GOP’s 13th Congressional District primary was insightful about the inside-Beltline versus outside-Beltline dynamic at play – the same divide that plays out in the WakeCounty school board fight.   There are two other interesting aspects to the battle: race and radicalism.   There’d be no end to the irony of…

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Cansler’s Deposition Part Two

By Carter Wrenn June 7, 2010

Back at the end of February Secretary Lanier Cansler was deposed and the lawyer doing the deposing asked him under oath what clients he’d represented as a lobbyist (before he was Secretary), and if any of them, back then,  had done business with DHHS.    “Let’s see,” Cansler said, “clients I did was – Computer…

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From Scoop to Flack

By Gary Pearce June 7, 2010

A veteran PR pro here says that when she used to get a call from a reporter, she wondered what story they were working on. Now, she wonders who’s looking for a job.   Mark Johnson of The Charlotte Observer/News & Observer is the latest to leave. I haven’t talked to Mark about his decision,…

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A Democrat to Watch

By Gary Pearce February 10, 2025

No, Trump’s blitzkrieg hasn’t left Democrats hapless, hopeless and rudderless. Here’s one example of the immense…

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Always Wrong

By Carter Wrenn February 7, 2025

It’s a kind of mystery – will hitting Canada and Mexico with tariffs land us in…

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Broken Egg Promise

By Gary Pearce February 7, 2025

Waffle House shows Trump lied – and broke his biggest promise. He promised, “when I win,…

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