Oran Smith, senior fellow at Palmetto Promise Institute, a South Carolina conservative think tank, will give a lecture titled "Contact Sport: The Hardball Politics of the Palmetto State" on Wednesday, Sept. 7, at 6 p.m. in the Recital Hall in the Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts at Coastal Carolina University. The event is free and open to the public.

Smith, former president of the Palmetto Family Council, has been involved in the top tier of state politics for decades, having served on the S.C. Business and Industry Political Education Committee and in the office of the late Gov. Carroll Campbell; he is also a long-serving member of the CCU board of trustees.

Smith's lecture will explore the concept of the political realm, and in particular the presidential election, as a contact sport: "Much like football or rugby or hockey," Smith said, "politics could be known as 'organized violence.' There is only one winner, and to win, the combatants will do most anything before the clock runs out." He emphasized that South Carolina, with its high-profile primary, plays a central role in the intensity of presidential politics. "After a peaceful Iowa and New Hampshire, all bets are off in the rough and tumble of the Palmetto State, and the real vetting begins."

The Edwards College is located at 133 Chanticleer Drive W. on the Conway campus. The Recital Hall is in Room 152.

For more information on the event, contact Amy Tully at 843-349-2352 or atully@coastal.edu.