Grand Strand Politics
🎙️ Grand Strand Politics
“The inside story of power, growth, and change along the Grand Strand.”
A local podcast from Randal Wallace Presents
A podcast covering the people, decisions, and issues shaping life along South Carolina’s Grand Strand—from Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach to Surfside Beach and across Horry County.
Local politics isn’t abstract—it affects growth, development, taxes, public safety, and the future of the community.
This show breaks down what’s happening, who’s involved, and what it means for residents, business owners, and voters across the Grand Strand.
From city council decisions to county-wide issues and election coverage, Grand Strand Politics provides context, insight, and a clear look at the forces shaping one of South Carolina’s fastest-growing regions.
🎧 What You’ll Hear
- Local elections and candidates
- Development and growth debates
- City and county decision-making
- The issues driving change across the Grand Strand
👉 If you live here, work here, or care about where the Grand Strand is headed—this is your guide to the conversation.
Grand Strand Politics
MAYOR HIRSCH (Special Edition) Introducing you to Strom Thurmond, Governor Jim Edwards, and General George S. Patton
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In this special Edition within our special series I thought it was important to introduce you to three of the names you have heard or will hear in our series. As a person in my 50s who has worked in or around politics my entire life these names are familiar to me. That may not be the case for so many of our listeners who are either younger or not from South Carolina.
Strom Thurmond, the former Senator from South Carolina, was as dominate a political figure in my home state for decades as any name you will ever know. He literally served in political office for 72 years and up to the age of 100. Governor Jim Edwards, the first Republican Governor in South Carolina since Reconstruction, was also a well known figure for many years. Both men have also been out of public office for more than 20 years or longer. I thought it would be important to introduce you to both men so that our younger listeners can grasp how important they were in their time.
I also have learned in the three years and 12 seasons we have been producing these documentary podcasts that you end up with great materials that don't actually fit into your narrative. In the case of General George Patton we had that issue. Mayor Hirsch met Patton while he was fighting in the war but he headed home before the General died in a car accident near Christmas of 1945.
We found an extraordinary documentary short on Patton's life from the time of his death and it was narrated by Ronald Reagan. We wanted to share that short audio with our audience but could not find a place where it would fit. So we thought we would share it here. The same for another interesting story told by Mayor Hirsch that involved the star of our current long series , President George H. W. Bush. We thought that would be a great story to share here in this episode as well.
We hope you will enjoy this episode of what we like to call our "DVD Extras"
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