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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Gas Price Politics

By Gary Pearce May 5, 2006

Has there ever been a worse idea than the Senate Republicans’ proposal for a $100 tax rebate to help Americans buy more $3 gas? Has there ever been more convincing proof that Senator Bill Frist belongs in an operating room, not the White House? In fairness, Washington Democrats aren’t much better. Since I whacked Bill…

Raleigh Mayor

By Carter Wrenn May 5, 2006

A good way for Republicans to get a head start on the next Mayor’s race is to start making Mayor Charles Meeker’s runaway spending an issue. Now. On top of proposing to raise taxes on new homes, and raising property taxes to pay for a school bonds and raising property taxes two years ago, the…

Pope versus Morgan – Chapter 4 – The Purge

By Carter Wrenn May 4, 2006

The usual way to eliminate an opponent, politically, is to defeat him in an election. A simpler way – when the legislature redraws its districts – is to put him in someone else’s district. After he was elected Co-Speaker, Richard Morgan took Leo Daughtry out of his district and put him in a district with…

A Small Cut

By Carter Wrenn May 4, 2006

With Mayor Meeker talking about raising taxes again, and the City Council talking about spending $11 million more than it has, Republicans should be recommending ways to trim the budget. Here’s a small idea. The City publishes a newsletter, “Liveable Streets Update: Downtown Raleigh.” The newsletter seems to exist for only one reason – to…

Brad Miller’s Burden

By Gary Pearce May 4, 2006

Brad Miller is an ideal Congressman: serious, sincere and hard-working. Here is how decent a guy Brad is: He chaired the Senate committee that drew up his Congressional district, but his friends say he didn’t make the district nearly Democratic enough. No good deed goes unpunished. Brad now has Vernon Robinson as an opponent. Robinson…

Quote of the Day: It’s about Me

By Carter Wrenn May 3, 2006

The day before the election, when defense attorneys asked a Durham judge to remove DA Mike Nifong from the Duke University lacrosse rape case, charging his “zeal to win votes trumped his duty to see justice,” Nifong responded (News and Observer, 5/2/06): “Some people try cases in the media by filing motions that contain outrageous…

Pope Rules Republican Roost

By Gary Pearce May 3, 2006

Art Pope is now Pope of the North Carolina Republican Party. By engineering the defeats of Reps. Richard Morgan and Rick Eddins, Pope made himself Supreme Pontiff, Enforcer of Orthodoxy and All-Powerful Exorcist of Heretics. I believe that bodes ill for Democrats this November. Pope showed that he has the money – and can buy…

Pope versus Morgan – Chapter 2 – Roots of a Holy War

By Carter Wrenn May 2, 2006

Robert Grady ran for the State House in 1984; he was one of only two Republicans elected that year from east of Raleigh. Four years later, Art Pope ran and was elected to the House from Raleigh. Two years after that, in 1990, Richard Morgan was elected from Moore County (Pinehurst and Southern Pines). Back…

Art Pope’s Wild Ride

By Gary Pearce May 1, 2006

I don’t know whether Art Pope is going to knock off Richard Morgan in Tuesday’s primary. But I’m willing to bet that Morgan beats Pope in the State Board of Elections. For years now, Pope Republicans and Morgan Republicans have fought a civil war. It’s like the Shiites and Sunnis without the bombings. Pope has…

“Conservative Successes”?

By Gary Pearce April 23, 2026

Senator Phil Berger was out of touch with voters in his district – and suffered the…

Rise and Fall

By Gary Pearce April 21, 2026

A reassuring lesson from our trip to Germany and Czechia is that dictators, despots and tyrants…

Rolling Down the Elbe

By Gary Pearce April 19, 2026

Gwyn and I just returned from a 12-day journey through 1,000 years of history in Germany…