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.

CarterWrenn200x271

Carter Wrenn

Gary Pearce 2024

Gary Pearce

Archives

Categories

Bit by the Politics Bug

By Gary Pearce November 17, 2025

The four of us – from four political generations – fell into talking about when we first got hooked on politics. The oldest, in his 80s, remembered his father letting him stay up and watch the national conventions in 1952, when Dwight Eisenhower and Robert Taft battled for the Republican nomination and Adlai Stevenson and…

Podcasting Jim Hunt

By Gary Pearce November 13, 2025

Jim Hunt finished his fourth term as Governor 25 years ago this coming January, and many North Carolinians today don’t know the enormous impact he had on our state. Colin Campbell at WUNC Radio – seeking “to better understand what he accomplished and what lessons his political career offers for today’s landscape in state politics”…

A Rough Week

By Carter Wrenn November 13, 2025

Sitting in front of the shiny gold filigree on the White House wall, having a rough week after the election, Trump growled Democrats are ‘absolutely crazed.’ Insulting Democrats surprised no one. But it wasn’t the side of Trump folks like either. Setting his jaw, Trump warned Democrats were going to end the filibuster – so…

Last Week’s Election

By Carter Wrenn November 12, 2025

To fit the pieces together let’s look at three voters: Tom’s a Democrat, Dick’s a Republican, Harry’s an Independent – Tom never votes for a Republican; Dick never votes for a Democrat; and every election Harry has to make a choice – but who he chooses wins. Each party has what you could call a…

Human Nature

By Carter Wrenn November 11, 2025

Years ago my grandfather handed me a photograph of a famous Virginia train wreck – today politics reminds me of a train wreck. It’s easy to blame Trump for that. But the blame runs deeper. In  the Book of Samuel in the Old Testament King David lusted after Bathsheba, had her husband sent into battle…

Helping Chiselers

By Carter Wrenn November 10, 2025

Born in China, he moved to Canada, worked at a McDonald’s. Calling himself CZ, he returned to Shanghai, started his own cryptocurrency business. Became a billionaire. He opened Binance U.S., landed in a courtroom – terrorists like Hamas laundered money on his crypto exchange. He paid over $4.3 billion in fines, spent four months in…

A Writer’s Mark

By Gary Pearce November 10, 2025

My wife didn’t say I had to go, but I figured it was smart to go. So, instead of walking our dog in the woods and watching football last Saturday, I went with her to Northampton County for the unveiling of a state historical marker honoring her late aunt, Mebane Holoman Burgwyn. The Burgwyn family…

Democrats’ Victory Roads

By Gary Pearce November 7, 2025

Not only is there a road to Democratic victory, there are roads – plural. For Republicans, there’s only one road: Trump’s way – or the highway. Democrats took many paths to winning Tuesday – from a democratic socialist in New York City (a Muslim) to an ex-Navy officer in New Jersey (a woman) to an…

Bombs in the Caribbean

By Carter Wrenn November 6, 2025

The Defense Department turned into the War Department and now every day we’re bombing boats in the Caribbean – killing, Trump says, terrorists and drug smugglers. Senator Rand Paul asked a straightforward question: Show us proof they’re terrorists. Trump ignored him. Paul added a president can’t just, on his own, order the army to kill…

Obama 48-Trump 39

By Gary Pearce April 26, 2026

A new nationwide poll shows that, if they could run against each other in 2028, Barack…

“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…