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

Big Mark and Big Pharma

By Gary Pearce 2023-07-18

When it comes to Big Pharma, Lt. Governor Mark Robinson goes from roaring lion to purring pussycat. The Republican candidate for governor told the New Hanover County GOP, “I don’t intend to do like our current attorney general did and sue the drug company.” Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democratic candidate for governor, did sue…

Read More

Not This Kennedy

By Gary Pearce 2023-07-14

A recent poll showed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. getting 20% of the Democratic vote against President Biden. I’ll wager that most all of the 20% who picked Kennedy know just one thing about him: He’s a “Kennedy.” They don’t know – yet – that he’s an anti-vaccine, anti-science, conspiracy-spewing misogynist who said recently, “I’m proud…

Read More

A Flash of Lightning

By Carter Wrenn 2023-07-12

A year into the toughest campaign I was ever in when Jesse Helms trailed popular Governor Jim Hunt by 25 points, Arthur Finkelstein walked into my office, dropped a poll on the table, looked from me to Tom Ellis, pursed his lips. “It’s time you two learned something new.” Arthur pointed to the 4-inch-thick poll…

Read More

Free Speech Under Attack – Again

By Gary Pearce 2023-07-11

Sixty years later, history has hit “repeat” on the fight for free speech at North Carolina’s public universities. In 1963, it was one bill – the infamous Speaker Ban law – passed on one day at the end of the legislative session. Now, it’s bill after bill, step after step, day after day: the legislature,…

Read More

Brace Yourself

By Carter Wrenn 2023-07-10

Would you trust a politician who told you he never makes mistakes? Would you stare back surprised? Roll your eyes? Shaking your head think, Pride’s one of the seven deadly sins. Brace yourself. Trump’s War Room recently tweeted: “Trump is always right!”

Read More

Run Everywhere?

By Gary Pearce 2023-07-07

A reader wrote about North Carolina Democrats’ 2024 strategy: “I question the wisdom of trying to recruit Democratic candidates in all 170 legislative districts. Precincts and counties that voted overwhelmingly for Trump seem like lost causes to me.” Indeed, some places are 70 percent Republican. Why run there? Here’s why. Josh Stein won the 2020…

Read More

You Pay a Price Either Way

By Carter Wrenn 2023-07-07

One group cheers Trump. Another cheers Biden. And a lot of people dislike both. And that third group will decide who wins the election next fall. In 2016, they didn’t like Trump, disliked Hillary more, Trump won. In 2020 they didn’t like Biden, disliked Trump more, Biden won. This year, for the third straight presidential…

Read More

A Reckoning

By Carter Wrenn 2023-07-06

On election night three years ago standing at a podium in the White House Trump said the election was stolen. He went on to claim voting machines switched Trump votes to Biden. And that boxes of illegal ballots were rolled into voting centers late at night. Neither turned out to be true. And he was…

Read More

The Mirror

By Carter Wrenn 2023-07-05

In his ‘Farewell Address,’ leaving office, George Washington reminded Americans of a simple truth: “Honesty is the best policy.” And for years when a politician made the mistake of telling a lie he paid a price. During the Vietnam War Lyndon Johnson told people we were winning – the Tet Offensive proved he was spinning…

Read More

American Trauma

By Gary Pearce 2024-03-29

An American history textbook published in 2050 might call the first quarter of the 21st Century…

Read More

A Simple Question

By Carter Wrenn 2024-03-27

Hamas stormed into Israel, killed men, women, and children. Shocked Israelis thought, We’re no longer safe.…

Read More

Plagues

By Carter Wrenn 2024-03-26

Plagues have been around since the time of the Pharaohs: What caused the plague that killed…

Read More