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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The Debate Tonight, A Hard Counter Punch

By Carter Wrenn September 10, 2024

Cocaine kingpin Jaime Davidson handed ‘Bam Bam’ Lawrence a .357 Magnum pistol, told him to go rob a rival; Bam Bam shot an undercover policeman – investigating drug kingpins – in the head during the robbery, killed him. Jaime Davidson got life in prison – for providing the pistol, ordering the robbery. While Trump was…

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Better Days

By Carter Wrenn September 9, 2024

On stage at his rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, angry, lips set, tearing into Kamala Harris, J. D. Vance snapped, ‘She can go to hell.’ Meantime, over on Truth Social, Trump retweeted a meme showing Harris standing beside Hillary Clinton, above the line ‘Funny how blowjobs impacted both their careers differently.’ Most of us remember the…

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Do TV Ads Work?

By Gary Pearce September 8, 2024

Josh Stein’s ads about Mark Robinson certainly worked. They worked because they defined Robinson early in the race and because they used the most devastating weapon in politics: Robinson himself on camera saying, “abortion in this country’s not about protecting the lives of mothers – it’s about killing a child because you weren’t responsible enough…

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One Word

By Carter Wrenn September 6, 2024

Sitting in a crowded restaurant listening to two friends – one calling Kamala Harris a ‘ninny,’ the other calling Trump a ‘blowhard’ – it struck me: We’ve got a rare election on our hands – issues hardly matter. What matters? Character. Words like: Ninny. Blowhard. Braggart. Fool. These days voters march in tribes: Republicans vote…

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Mark Robinson’s Slipping

By Carter Wrenn September 4, 2024

After Mark Robinson announced for governor, he led Josh Stein in polls. Then Stein pulled even. Then Robinson trailed by five. In a poll last week Robinson trailed by fourteen. Some folks say the problem’s Robinson’s stand on abortion. And, yes, that could hurt him. But when Congressman George Holding got attacked by Democrats for…

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Something You Don’t See Often

By Carter Wrenn September 2, 2024

You don’t see many people like James Lankford – getting along with both sides in a divided world he tells people ‘Your faith should affect everything you do. It’s how I treat my wife. It’s how I treat strangers. Every person’s created in the image of God. They have value and worth. As I joke…

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Beware of Darkness

By Gary Pearce September 2, 2024

August was a month of joy and hope for Democrats. But darker days lie ahead. In September and October, politics – like the weather – will grow colder, darker and meaner. Republicans will do what they always do: appeal to hate and fear. They’ll run the dark TV ads and roll out the scary mailers…

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The Brawl

By Carter Wrenn August 30, 2024

The last time delegates sitting in a convention picked a candidate for President was 48 years ago. Those days are gone – now conventions mirror Broadway productions. In Milwaukee, country singers sang, rappers danced; in Chicago, Pink sang, Oprah spoke. But back in 1976, Gerald Ford led Ronald Reagan by a handful of votes at…

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Odd

By Carter Wrenn August 28, 2024

Doing an interview on Fox Trump told Brian Kilmeade it’s a little known fact that the press doesn’t want to talk about, but Biden ‘sent comrade Kamala to see Putin in Russia three days before the attack’ on Ukraine, added Putin ‘laughed at her – he thought she was a joke.’ After the interview Ainsley…

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Recessional

By Carter Wrenn November 11, 2024

The tumult and the shouting dies; The Captains and the Kings depart: Still stands Thine ancient…

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Mistakes and Miss-Takes

By Gary Pearce November 10, 2024

Bert Bennett of Winston-Salem, the legendary political godfather to Terry Sanford and Jim Hunt, had a…

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Don’t Give Up

By Gary Pearce November 6, 2024

This is bad. Bad for America and for the world. Bad for women, for immigrants, for…

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