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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Obama’s Lincoln Problem

By Carter Wrenn February 16, 2009

I wonder if Abraham Lincoln’s shoes are big enough to fit both his feet and Barack Obama’s? Before the ink dried after the election, Obama said, like Lincoln, he was going to appoint a ‘Team of Rivals’ to his cabinet. He rode to his inaugural following the same route as Lincoln. Took the oath with…

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Bambi in the White House?

By Gary Pearce February 16, 2009

Several times during the presidential campaign, opponents and commentators dismissed Barack Obama as “Obambi.” John Edwards privately told friends he thought Obama was weak. The Clintons believed he was too soft. So did John McCain. At every turn, Bambi turned out to have sharp teeth. His path is littered with his opponents’ bones. But now…

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The Governor’s Next Press Conference

By Carter Wrenn February 13, 2009

The governor’s been doing a lot of talking lately about cleaning up the probation mess and Senator Phil Berger’s just announced he’s taking her at her word and introducing a bill to help.   First, Senator Berger wants the legislature to pass a law to make it legal for all “probation and law enforcement officers…

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The Hagan Edge

By Gary Pearce February 13, 2009

How key was North Carolina in the 2008 election? Well, it’s possible the stimulus package might not have passed the Senate if Kay Hagan hadn’t beaten Liddy Dole. The bill passed 61-58, with the help of three Republicans. Without Hagan, the vote might have been 60-59. Cut it that close, and President Obama might not…

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Resegregating Raleigh’s Schools?

By Carter Wrenn February 12, 2009

It’s always seemed there might be a little bit of hoax about the Wake County School Board’s ‘diversity’ policy – that the policy was really about race and not academics (as the board has argued for years). The board has made its case like this: It says it buses students based on their family incomes…

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Heath’s Errant Play

By Gary Pearce February 12, 2009

As an NFL quarterback, Health Shuler had a reputation for making bad throws. As a politician, he may have just thrown himself out of the 2010 Senate race. Shuler voted against the stimulus bill in the House, one of a handful of Democrats to cross party lines on the vote. That’s not inconsistent with the…

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A Strange Cure

By Carter Wrenn February 11, 2009

Most times, to me a Jamaican voodoo doctor rattling chicken bones makes as much sense as an economist, and I’d say there is a greater probability the voodoo doctor’s predictions will come true. The fact is I simply do not understand economics. It’s as much a mystery as astrology. Or tarot cards. Or a scientist…

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Obama Dancing the Two-Step

By Carter Wrenn February 11, 2009

Well, Gary gave President Obama rave reviews about Monday night’s press conference. I had a different – and apparently partisan – reaction. There was a time, not so long ago, when Obama talked a language that sounded a lot like plain everyday English but now, well, he’s taken to talking political-ese. High quality political-ese but…

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Who Cares What Wall Street Thinks?

By Gary Pearce February 11, 2009

So Wall Street wasn’t happy with Obama’s bank-rescue plan. As one of my breakfast pals pointed out: “Didn’t Wall Street get us into this mess? Who are they to complain that the rescuers aren’t doing enough to save them from themselves?” The real question is what the American people think. Public Policy Polling found that…

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Does This Work?

By Gary Pearce February 23, 2025

Does a message about “workers,” “working families” and “working-class voters” really work for Democrats? Or does…

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Out of Touch

By Gary Pearce February 20, 2025

I’ve resisted the temptation to rail every day about Trump’s cruelty, corruption and incompetence – and…

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Jeanette Hyde

By Gary Pearce February 14, 2025

Jeanette Hyde went from Miss Yadkin County to Madam Ambassador. Hyde, who died Monday at age…

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