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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Handcuffed

By Gary Pearce January 29, 2010

I don’t know Ruffin Poole well, but he never struck me as a fellow who posed a physical danger to the populace.   So why did the feds force him to make a well-photographed “perp walk” in cuffs?   I put that question to a Democratic lawyer friend of mine who has done considerable work…

Bev’s Buzzwords

By Gary Pearce January 29, 2010

“The jobs governor.”   “Setting government straight.”   “Career and college – ready, set, go.”   “Safe communities.”   You may as well get familiar with all these phrases. You’ll be hearing them from Governor Perdue – presumably for a good while.   Team Perdue has carved out those words as her roadmap to political…

A Formidable Opponent

By Gary Pearce January 28, 2010

President Obama showed anew Wednesday night why he got elected – and why he remains the dominant political talent in America today.   His speech was masterful. His tone was perfect. And he smilingly skewered a range of targets – Republicans, Democrats, Supreme Court, big banks, you name it.   But his positioning was even…

The Artful Dodger

By Carter Wrenn January 28, 2010

I don’t recall hardly ever seeing eye to eye with State Representative Mickey Michaux but the other day he hit the nail on the head.   Governor Perdue’s favorite Cabinet Secretary Lanier ‘The Artful Dodger’ Cansler traipsed over to the legislature for a meeting and after a fair amount of hemming and hawing admitted he…

Prime Time Player?

By Gary Pearce January 27, 2010

Once you get past the dishing about Sarah Palin, John Edwards, et al in the book Game Change, you learn a few things.   Like about President Obama.   That he’s like a basketball player who wants the ball when the game is on line.   That he has supreme confidence he can rise to…

That’s His Story…

By Carter Wrenn January 26, 2010

Coming out of a meeting over in the state legislature Senate Kingpin Marc Basnight ran head on into a gaggle of reporters and right off someone asked if it wasn’t a bit underhanded for Basnight to appropriate $25 million for a new fishing pier at Nags Head and then have his own construction company build…

Brad, Bernie and the Banks

By Gary Pearce January 26, 2010

Congressman Brad Miller is never the happiest of warriors. But this year could raise his angst to new levels.   Miller worries in the Greensboro News & Record that – thanks to the Supreme Court’s corporate-campaign ruling – he might be the target of bank-sponsored attacks.   “I’ve made a real nuisance of myself to…

Napoleon’s Mother

By Carter Wrenn January 25, 2010

Sometimes it seems like one of a President’s less enviable jobs is to be a kind of national whipping boy, an outlet for our pent up frustrations and afflictions. And even if pummeling, say, Barack Obama or George Bush won’t put people back to work it sure is satisfying to have someone to blame.  …

Obama Resets

By Gary Pearce January 25, 2010

Team Obama has a 1-1 record. They won the 2008 campaign, and they lost the 2009 campaign. Now they’re resetting for the 2010 tie-breaker.   One step is organizational, and another is rhetorical.   Organization: They brought back 2008 campaign manager David Plouffe to oversee the 2010 elections. The lesson Team Obama took from Massachusetts…

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…