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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A Michigan Focus Group

By Carter Wrenn January 3, 2020

Chuck Todd’s anti-Trump to the bone but now and then surprises happen and one happened on Meet the Press when Todd played a video of a focus group of Republican voters sitting around a  table in Grand Rapids, Michigan;–––the moderator started by asking, ‘Do you think impeachment is too complicated to follow? and a white-haired…

The Day They Impeached Trump

By Carter Wrenn January 2, 2020

For an hour driving to a luncheon in Cary then driving back to my office I listened to the impeachment debate in the House on the radio; one Congressman after another spoke and their voices all sounded the same: Angry and scared. Republicans stood up railing against Pelosi and, with equal heat, Democrats branded Trump…

Did Rudy Play Donald?

By Carter Wrenn December 11, 2019

The way Adam Schiff tells it Trump wanted dirt on Joe Biden so he told the Ukrainian President to ‘Work with Rudy.’ Trump blasts back that Schiff’s full of hot air – it’s all baloney. But up in Manhattan a United States Attorney, who indicted two of Giuliani’s associates from the Ukraine, unearthed a different…

Blind Passion and 3%

By Carter Wrenn December 9, 2019

Tony grew up in the suburbs, attended college in Boston, graduate school in New York, was proud to be for Obama in 2008, for Bernie in 2016, and now he’s an all for impeachment Democrat. To Tony one thing matters: Trump must go. Sam lives in the rural small town he grew up in, married…

Tucker Versus Tillis

By Carter Wrenn September 2, 2019

‘Tillis Tanking, Tucker Rising Among Primary Voters,’ the headline read. The  poll by Public Policy Polling showed Garland Tucker had gained on Thom Tillis again, now trailing Tillis by just 7 points in the Republican Primary. (Tillis 38%, Tucker 31%, Undecided 31%). Worse for Tillis, his popularity with Republicans had plummeted for the second time…

Infected

By Carter Wrenn August 16, 2019

The newspaper, strapped for cash, heard about a ‘Rally Against Racism’ in a small town an hour’s drive away and thought, Click bait. After the rally a headline popped up on the newspaper’s website: ‘We cannot live in fear’: Activist condemns racism, gun violence at rally in Hillsborough – and every time someone clicked to…

Joe Dickerson: a hero’s story

By Gary Pearce July 30, 2019

“I crawled along with my bayonet in my hand, sticking it in the ground ahead of me trying to find mines.” Joe Dickerson, describing the terrible 400 yards between the water and the seawall on Omaha Beach, D-Day, June 6, 1944. My stepfather Joe Dickerson, who died Monday at age 96, was a veteran of…

Sizing up the Democratic field

By Gary Pearce June 25, 2019

Size matters in politics. Yes, physical size: Think Trump looming over Hillary in their debates, or Reagan vs. Carter or George H.W. Bush vs. Dukakis. But just as important is political size, psychic size – call it heft, command presence or the aura of leadership. The Presidency is a big job. To get there, a…

Democrats and Republicans find common ground

By Gary Pearce June 21, 2019

Apparently, we all agree on one thing: Washington is corrupt. That’s the central message from two challengers to Senator Thom Tillis, one a Democrat and one a Republican. In his announcement video this week, Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham says we must “reform the corrupt system in Washington.” He says, “the corruption in D.C. and politicians…

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…