Wrenn reflects on decades in politics with new book

The political consultant’s memoir spans decades of campaigns, going back to the days of North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms

Carter Wrenn, whose career in politics spanned 50 years, discusses his time working as a conservative consultant and some of the stories from his new book, “The Trail of the Serpent: Stories from the Smoke-Filled Rooms of Politics.” (Ashley White/ North State Journal)

RALEIGH — Few have seen the number of political eras come and go in North Carolina like veteran political consultant Carter Wrenn.

In a room filled with the scent of cigars and surrounded by shelf after shelf of books, Wrenn settled back into his chair as he spoke to North State Journal about his new book, “The Trail of the Serpent: Stories from the Smoke-Filled Rooms of Politics.

“What I was trying to show was how politics changed,” Wrenn said of his book. “And some things never change, but I wanted to go tell stories from 50 years to show what has changed.”

He said he was inspired to write the book by conversations he had with a friend during the pandemic lockdowns.

Wrenn offered an example of when Ronald Reagan ran for president, noting there were “plenty of disagreements” but said “the candidates treated each other with a degree of mutual respect.”

“There’s a great story about when Reagan was wounded,” Wrenn said. “Tip O’Neill drives the hospital, goes in his room, kneels down by the bed and says prayer with him. That was the mutual (respect). They didn’t agree on anything, but they didn’t insult each other. And what you look at today is insults happen all the time in politics; (Donald) Trump called (Kamala) Harris dumb as a rock at one time. That would have backfired because people didn’t approve of that sort of behavior.”

Wrenn said lying was another example of how politics has changed.

“Nixon got elected by a huge landslide and then get caught on tape telling a lie about Watergate and had to resign,” said Wrenn. “Today, politicians lie all the time and people cheer. And my point is, that’s a change.

“And if you want to, it’s easy to point fingers at politicians and blame them. But if people didn’t share lies, politicians wouldn’t lie.”

Wrenn said writing about the stories meant revealing the people in them.

“You have to name the names because the people that are involved,” he said. “How do you tell stories about what Arthur Finkelstein did if you don’t tell stories about Arthur?”

Wrenn also discussed the shift of power between parties and the overall change in the political landscape both nationally and in North Carolina.

Carter Wrenn signs his book, “The Trail of the Serpent: Stories from the Smoke-Filled Rooms of Politics.” (Ashley White / North State Journal)

During his half-century in politics, Wrenn saw a political realignment in North Carolina, citing a shift from Democratic dominance to Republican growth. He explained how the Democratic Party initially contained both conservatives and progressives, and how Sen. Jesse Helms’ switch to the Republican Party helped attract conservative Democrats, contributing to a broader political realignment.

Wrenn outlined how the Republican Party shifted from being a “mainstream, nonideological” party to becoming more ideologically conservative under Reagan. Wrenn noted that this ideological focus has somewhat faded recently, particularly with Trump’s candidacy, which he characterizes as less ideologically driven.

“I don’t want to make this a long story, but when I started out in politics in the ’70s, I had been a Democrat,” he said. “You know the Democrat Party ruled North Carolina politics all through the 20th century up until when Helms won. And in the Democrat Party, there were conservatives and progressives; something like 20% of the voters were Republican then 85% were Democrat. So a Republican couldn’t win unless he got a lot of Democrat votes.”

Wrenn said that when Republicans like Helms ran in North Carolina in the Reagan era, they won because conservative Democrats were voting for them.

“And that made politics. … It started a realignment of the Republican Party,” said Wrenn. “Before that, the Republicans were sort of a mainstream, nonideological political party. Reagan turned it into an ideological choice between a liberal Democrat and a conservative Republican. And that was really the key to him winning, that and the Cold War.

“What’s happened since then is the ideological has faded and you still have more conservatives on the Republican side than the Democrat. But Trump’s not really an ideological-type candidate. And so character then becomes more of a factor in the election.”

Wrenn said modern elections, particularly the recent presidential race, come down to character judgments among independent voters. Wrenn described it as a “Hobson’s choice” where voters must decide which candidate would “do the least harm.”

Wrenn attributed Reagan’s loss in 1976 to the conservative movement not being strong enough yet, while Trump’s loss in 2020 was primarily due to his handling of COVID-19, with Biden’s strategy of “staying hidden” proving effective in making the election a referendum on Trump.

“But four years later … we were losing the Cold War, and that was what got Reagan elected,” said Wrenn. “In 2000, I think that, again, the Trump versus Biden wasn’t really. … It was really more about COVID than anything else. And people look to Trump, and they thought he had bungled COVID.

“And Biden just stayed hidden in his basement. He just avoided being a topic of the election, and therefore, it tilted against Trump at the end of the day. And who knows what would have happened if he hadn’t have had COVID. But I think that was the deciding thing in that election.”

The Panama Canal

Another parallel in his book between past campaigns and the current political landscape regards the Panama Canal. Since being reelected, President Donald Trump has pushed the idea of retaking control of the Panama Canal, the transfer of which was a defining and heavily criticized move made by late former President Jimmy Carter.

In his book, Wrenn describes Helms’ tough 1984 reelection fight, where he faced popular Democrat Gov. Jim Hunt and how the Panama Canal played a role. One of the most memorable moments was the use of a simple yet powerful ad featuring a farmer pouring oil into a tractor engine, criticizing Hunt for supporting the Panama Canal giveaway. The ad ended with the farmer asking, “Where do you stand, Jim?”

Wrenn said that ad, along with others, was effective in painting Hunt as out of touch with conservative values while raising an issue of a foreign threat, likely costing Hunt the election.

From “The Trail of the Serpent: Stories from the Smoke-Filled Rooms of Politics.

When Arthur stared at his last poll his eyes locked on one number: Ninety-two percent of the voters opposed giving away Panama Canal. He sat for a moment looked up at Tom Ellis: “Hit Ford for the Panama Canal giveaway — don’t say a word about anything else for the last five days.”

Four years later, after the Democrats gave away the Panama Canal, they lost the Senate but a week before our primary no one had heard the words “Panama Canal Giveaway” in a campaign; none of us knew it then but Arthur had found the issue that wreaked havoc on Gerald Ford — fear drove that river and grim-faced men and women saw the Panama Canal giveaway as the heart of weakness.

About A.P. Dillon 1541 Articles
A.P. Dillon is a North State Journal reporter located near Raleigh, North Carolina. Find her on Twitter: @APDillon_