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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Not My Fault

By Carter Wrenn November 15, 2017

President Trump made robo-calls and tweeted to help elect Ed Gillespie but as soon as Gillespie lost Trump made it clear who was to blame by tweeting: “Ed Gillespie… didn’t embrace me or what I stand for.”    It’s a hard world. And it’s easy to understand why Trump didn’t want to be blamed. But…

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Divisions within divisions

By Gary Pearce November 15, 2017

We’re not just divided between Blue America and Red America, Democrat and Republican, right and left. We’re divided within our own tribes. And the internal fights can be the angriest, meanest and most bitter of all. Three factors fuel our political – and social and cultural – fights: population patterns, gerrymandering and how we use…

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Fake News

By Carter Wrenn November 15, 2017

The California NAACP asked legislators to send a resolution to Washington to tell Congress ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ has to go as the national anthem – it was the latest political stunt but that story took off like a rocket and landed in newspapers from coast to coast and the headline in the Raleigh newspaper…

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What Goes Around Comes Around

By Carter Wrenn November 14, 2017

It’s disappointing that Democrat Ralph Northam was elected Governor of Virginia – it’s worse that he won by five points more than Hillary. It’s disappointing Democrats in Virginia swept the House of Delegates elections – it’s worse that, since they aren’t very well known, most candidates for state legislature live and die by national trends…

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Full Circle

By Carter Wrenn November 13, 2017

A Democrat wrote on a Republican Congressman’s Facebook page: You Republicans cut taxes for the wealthy by screwing the middle class. But think tanks, from the Tax Policy Center on the left to the Tax Foundation on right, have said Republicans cut income taxes on all income groups – from those earnings less than $10,000…

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Take down your damn yard signs!

By Gary Pearce November 13, 2017

I may not get politicians to get past wasting money on yard signs. They’re like crack addicts.  But they at least could TAKE DOWN THEIR DAMN SIGNS AFTER THE ELECTION IS OVER!!! We’re talking about you, Nancy McFarlane and Charles Francis. Your unsightly, now-sagging signs are still cluttering rights-of-way.  In fairness, the Mayor’s election was…

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A tale of two cities

By Gary Pearce November 10, 2017

Prosperous, progressive and, yes, white West Raleigh prevailed over less-prosperous, left-out, left-behind and, yes, black East Raleigh in the mayor’s race. Now the job of newly reelected Mayor Nancy McFarlane and the new City Council is to bridge the divide. And that’s the challenge for North Carolina Democrats who hope for a replay of Virginia’s…

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Paul Ryan is right

By Gary Pearce November 9, 2017

“We’re with Trump,” he said after Tuesday’s elections. Indeed you are.  So is every Republican on the ballot next year. They’re lashed to Trump like Ahab to the whale. If they cross Trump, they lose a primary. If they’re with him, they lose the kind of suburban voters who made Tuesday a rout.  Now, Democrats…

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Blindness

By Carter Wrenn November 8, 2017

The NAACP called him ignorant. So did the head of the Congressional Black Caucus. Professors from Harvard, Yale and Columbia called him blind and strange. The Washington Post attacked him. And so did CNN. On Social Media he was also called provocative, dangerous and depressing. It all started when a church in Alexandria, Virginia decided…

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The View from Iceland

By Gary Pearce November 18, 2024

If you seek political asylum the next four years, try Iceland. We went there last week…

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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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