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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Rise and Fall

By Gary Pearce October 8, 2024

As Hurricane Helene ravaged the mountains, my wife and I were thousands of miles away, on a two-week trip to Turkey and Greece. We followed news of the devastation as we toured historic sites in Istanbul, Gallipoli, Ephesus, Rhodes, Crete, Athens, Mycenae and Delphi. We walked on the stones of ancient empires that rose and…

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Two Roads…

By Carter Wrenn October 7, 2024

From Walter Mondale to Obama Democrat politicians preached the same gospel: Government was the way to solve problems – the way they saw it the more money and power government held in its hands the more problems they’d solve. The way Republicans saw it was different: Government didn’t solve problems – it made them worse.…

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Keep Your Fingers Crossed…

By Carter Wrenn October 4, 2024

At the end of the Vance–Walz debate I thought, I wish those two were the ones running for president. Their debate was like a flashback to an earlier time – both men threw punches, got punched, but did it in a courteous way. Without meanness. An old niceness we haven’t seen for a while in…

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Guest Blog by Palmer Sugg

By Carter Wrenn October 1, 2024

In 1984, Carter hired me to work for the Helms campaign.  While my primary assignment was to travel with the candidate, Carter occasionally sent me to speak for the campaign.  In September of 1984, he dispatched me to the campus of NCSU for a Q&A with Fraternity Leaders.  He didn’t bother to tell me that…

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Scandals

By Carter Wrenn September 30, 2024

Bob Windsor owned a small newspaper The Landmark – all in for Jesse Helms back in 1984 he called Jim Hunt a ‘Sissy, prissy and effeminate.’ The first line in his newspaper article claimed Hunt was gay. It was a smear. Pure and simple. Not a word of truth in it. Jesse denounced the smear.…

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Entertaining…

By Carter Wrenn September 27, 2024

Haitians ‘eating cats’ – a rumor born on the internet. Trump heard it. Repeated it. Kamala Harris wore pearl earrings at the debate – another rumor was born: They weren’t earrings they were disguised earpieces. Harris was cheating. Trump heard that rumor too. Repeated it. At a rally Trump quipped, ‘She’s already talking about bringing…

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Vance’s Plan

By Carter Wrenn September 25, 2024

Vance’s Plan I read Hillbilly Elegy years ago. Liked it lot. So I’ve been watching J.D. Vance. The other day he did an interview. About the Ukraine war. Trump, Vance said, would sit down with the Russians and Ukrainians and tell them to work out a peaceful settlement, end the war. Vance went on to…

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Crazy and Crazier

By Carter Wrenn September 24, 2024

We’ve never seen anything quite like this before – it’s all over the news not just here but around the country: Stories about how Mark Robinson dove into a porn site, posted checkered comments for four years. It’s either the worst smear ever – or it’s true and just plain shocking. Robinson, himself, said it’s…

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A Strange Election

By Carter Wrenn September 23, 2024

Republicans love Trump. Democrats hate Trump. Both groups’ votes are set in stone. Swing voters usually decide who to vote for based on issues. But this election they’re heading down a different road. A lot of swing voters side with Trump on the border but, at the same time, vote for Harris. They see Trump…

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Another Story from Politics

By Carter Wrenn December 24, 2024

Watergate sunk Nixon. Jimmy Carter was elected. Two years later Jesse Helms ran for reelection. In…

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Unhappy Holidays?

By Gary Pearce December 24, 2024

We Americans are angry this Christmas. 77 million voters were so angry they elected Trump. 75…

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A Surprise

By Carter Wrenn December 23, 2024

‘You tell a lot of good stories about Reagan, like his saying a prayer for the…

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