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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The Wrong Fight

By Carter Wrenn April 25, 2025

A risky move, landing in court, spurred a brawl – but give Trump credit: He’s outsmarting both Democrats and the press. Defying a judge’s order was a silly mistake. Trump could’ve made his case in court, won, and shipped Kilmar Garcia to an El Salvador prison. Instead charging out on a limb he threw ‘due…

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Breaking Bad

By Gary Pearce April 24, 2025

“Move fast and break things” is the motto of the tech bros at DOGE – which should be called the Destruction of Government Experiment. That’s how Trump governs. He breaks things. He broke the Western alliance against Putin. He broke his promise to end the war in Ukraine “even before I become President.” His tariffs…

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This Sounds Screwy…

By Carter Wrenn April 23, 2025

Trailing by 734 votes, losing his Supreme Court race to Democrat Allison Riggs, Jefferson Griffin headed to court, contesting the election. Nothing wrong with that. Fifty years ago Jack Hawke – who went on to become Republican Party Chairman – ran for Congress, lost by 900 votes, headed to court. Tom Ellis, his lawyer, later…

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Riggs v Griffin

By Gary Pearce April 23, 2025

The nearly six-month fight over the North Carolina Supreme Court election has proven one thing beyond reasonable doubt: Allison Riggs is supremely better qualified than Jefferson Davis Griffin. No, his middle name isn’t Davis. But it fits. At UNC, Griffin was a member of Kappa Alpha fraternity and dressed up in a Confederate uniform for…

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What Happens If…

By Carter Wrenn April 21, 2025

Trump’s fighting on a lot of fronts – look at tariffs: If Trump’s right, as he says, he’s leading us into a ‘Golden Age.’ But if he’s wrong we could land in a recession with the Smoot-Hawley Tariffs echoing in our ears. Here’s another fight: The Constitution says Congress decides how much money gets spent…

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Shafted

By Gary Pearce April 21, 2025

To understand politics today, we need to understand what happened the last 20-plus years. A good diagnosis comes from Rahm Emanuel (photo), a possible Democratic candidate for President in 2028. He’s been senior adviser to President Clinton, a member of Congress and a House Democratic leader, chief of staff to President Obama, mayor of Chicago…

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A Puzzle…

By Carter Wrenn April 18, 2025

Elon Musk’s charged ahead out to cut spending – then an odd thing happened. Trump put a billionaire friend of Musk’s, who flew in outer space twice on Musk’s SpaceX rockets, in charge of NASA. Musk’s friend’s mission: To land astronauts on Mars. It’s odd. Like watching two boys in high school parading, saying they’re…

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What’s Going On…

By Carter Wrenn April 17, 2025

Pouring gas on fires, living off division, the news media’s full of melodrama – headlines like: Trump, Roberts on collision course. (Loved by some, loathed by others, no one gets people’s attention like Trump – to boost their ratings Fox, CNN, MSNBC are all full of Trump stories.) Here’s another: Trump allies out to make…

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Trumpty Dumpty

By Gary Pearce April 17, 2025

Trump boasted that the White House Easter Egg Roll this year will feature 30,000 real eggs. Which brings up the biggest broken promise in the history of politics. Last August, then-candidate Trump stood beside a table stacked with groceries: cereal, bacon, fruit, butter, bread and – yes, eggs. He promised: “When I win, I will…

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What a Difference a Year Makes

By Gary Pearce November 11, 2005

One year ago today, Democrats were down. John Kerry and John Edwards had lost. Erskine Bowles…

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More Consultants

By Carter Wrenn November 11, 2005

The News and Observer also reports the Mayor has hired another consultant for $300,000 to verify…

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Does the Lottery Cause Amnesia?

By Carter Wrenn November 11, 2005

When the press asked Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand about his dealings with defrocked lottery commissioner…

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