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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What Happens Next?

By Carter Wrenn November 2, 2020

Glaring at a President, thinking, I don’t like you but, at least, you’re not lying to me…that’s a pillar (of democracy) called the Public Trust. Nixon breached the Trust, had to resign. Now Biden lies, Trump lies…but one will be President. If the pillar vanishes…   What happens next?

Bone Deep

By Carter Wrenn October 30, 2020

Joe Biden, doddery Washington politician, both for and against fracking; Trump slams Fauci; Giuliani says Hunter Biden had a relationship with a 14-year-old girl; Two tribes. One loves Trump; one hates him. CNN, and Fox, stir both. Social media pours gas on the fire. Trump’s tribe roars, If Biden wins our country’s doomed; Biden’s tribe…

Better Angels

By Carter Wrenn October 29, 2020

Trump boasted, ‘I fight for you harder than any president has ever fought for anyone’ – the video flew across the internet, landed in my inbox with a two-line stab: Remember George Washington fighting for eight years during the Revolution – and at Valley Forge? Staring down from the stage at a legion of admirers,…

The Great Debate

By Carter Wrenn October 28, 2020

Flamboyant, fearless, pounding his chest, Trump punched Biden. Fumbling, dodging, doddery, Biden punched back. Fox swooned, Trump won. CNN hissed, Trump’s a fiend. Who won? Here’s a biblical question: Trump’s bad. But Biden’s worse. We’re in a ditch. Ask yourself: Why is our only choice between ‘bad’ or ‘worse?’

A Reliable Sign…amid Polls

By Carter Wrenn October 20, 2020

Every day, coming face-to-face with ambiguities, seeking answers I study signs but as Christ warned signs, like wolves in sheep’s clothing, can lead us astray.   Media polls have Trump down ten, 14, 16 points – but my friends, with fixed certainty, tell me, You can’t trust media polls – they mean nothing. Yet even…

An Ironic Kind of Justice

By Carter Wrenn October 19, 2020

Trump brags, name-calls, but to his credit he’s candid – what you see is what you get. He’s a rascal but doesn’t dress it up with high sounding talk. Cal Cunningham’s a rascal too but candor’s not among his virtues: He painted a picture of himself as a small-town boy… to trust… who loves North…

An Odd Thing to Say…

By Carter Wrenn October 16, 2020

An Odd Thing to Say… It’s been thirty-six years since a president won an election by more than ten points… Obama, Bush, Clinton, George Bush, Senior, none did it – but now Joe Biden is leading Trump by twelve, fourteen, sixteen points in polls; even Fox News has Biden leading by ten. Is Trump sinking?…

Sex Texting

By Carter Wrenn October 8, 2020

A thirteen-year-old boy sex texting, maybe…a forty-seven-year-old father, bizarre. Cal Cunningham quoted the motto ‘To Be Rather Than To Seem’ the morning he announced (for Senate) – then smiled ‘that’s me!’ He’s purred, I love North Carolina…I’m a small-town boy…I’m for you…then, boom, she’s married, he’s married, they’re not married to each other, their texts…

One Surprise…

By Carter Wrenn October 6, 2020

Courtesy allows people who disagree – Liberals, Conservatives, Democrats, Republicans – to go on living together in one country; take it away and you live in a perpetual knife fight – like the one we watched the other night between Trump and Biden. It’s tempting to blame Trump – who’s the world champion name-caller. But…

Getting the News

By Gary Pearce March 13, 2026

How do you get your news? Our statewide poll asked North Carolina voters what their primary…

MAGA-gator

By Gary Pearce March 12, 2026

Thom Tillis and Phil Berger fed the MAGA alligator. Then it ate them. Thomas Mills wrote…

Enough is Enough

By Gary Pearce March 11, 2026

Exactly 80 years ago, in 1946, Republicans took control of Congress with a simple message: “Had…