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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Bayh-Bye

By Gary Pearce February 16, 2010

Something rings wrong about Evan Bayh’s ostentatiously principled withdrawal from the Senate.   Maybe it’s the picture-perfect posing of his family at the press conference. Somehow you wonder if there’s a National Enquirer scoop lurking in the wings.   Maybe Bayh fears the same fate his father met exactly 30 years ago – losing a…

Stay Tuned

By Carter Wrenn February 15, 2010

Tiger Woods ought to offer John Edwards a free golf lesson – a thank you for knocking him off the front pages of the newspapers.   Last week there was a new twist in the saga of John and Liz and Andy and Rielle – and, surely, after this development the announcement the four of…

Trick ‘Em

By Carter Wrenn February 15, 2010

Back in her days in the General Assembly the Governor developed a sure-fire way to deal with legislators: Bumfuzzle ‘em.   For instance: The Governor’s biggest department, the leviathan Department of Health and Human Services, has already plowed through its $200 million budget increase, plus spent another $250 million on no-bid contracts (a lot of…

Enquiring Media

By Gary Pearce February 15, 2010

It must drive The News & Observer’s editors crazy.   Every time the National Enquirer publishes a sensational new twist in the John Edwards soap opera, the N&O editors – like the rest of the mainstream media – have to decide whether to ignore it or check it out.   Last week, they checked out…

The Great Satan

By Carter Wrenn February 12, 2010

The other night, snowbound, I turned on the television:  The Grammy Awards started with a gentleman dragging a blonde – I think it was Lady Gaga – across the stage.  Then wearing pink glitter eye make-up and a kind of show girl costume with lime green wings the blonde went to bumping and grinding.  Then…

Obama Up Again

By Gary Pearce February 12, 2010

Several readers pounced on my blog about Obama’s favorable ratings in North Carolina:   “Hope that kool-aid tastes good,” one posted.  Another: “Wow. Keep spinning, Gary.”   OK. How about the latest New York Times/CBS poll:   “At a time of deepening political disaffection and intensified distress about the economy, President Obama enjoys an edge…

What’s Up? Obama!

By Gary Pearce February 10, 2010

Every day I read how badly things are going for President Obama.   Democrats and Republicans, the mainstream media and the bloggers all alike trash him, his staff, his health care strategy, his jobs plan, his position on the banks, on and on.   Then I read a poll – commissioned by the Civitas Institute,…

Read Her Hand

By Gary Pearce February 10, 2010

Sarah Palin is an unending source of entertainment. She’s nearly as funny as Tina Fey’s impression of her.   There’s the scrambled syntax – a sure sign of a scrambled mind. The brassy denial of reality. Reading a speech ridiculing President Obama for reading a speech. Attacking the bailout that she and John McCain supported…

The Fox

By Carter Wrenn February 9, 2010

  The legislature handed Lanier Cansler $200 million more to spend this year than last year and he promptly spent it all plus $250 million more – so, now, his department’s in the red and he’s pointing fingers at everyone in sight saying it’s their fault: The Obama Administration, the flu, the recession.    …

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…