Let us pull back the curtain today and clue you, the reader, in on a little editorial board shorthand. Among the expressions we’ve adopted over the years is the moniker “steady eddy.” A steady eddy (or eydie) is most often a behind-the-scenes leader who gets important work done quietly and effectively.
Steady eddies and eydies don’t stampede to the microphone and TV cameras. They don’t throw their backs out of whack trying to rub shoulders with the bigwigs. And they don’t travel with a star-studded entourage.
Instead, day after day, they pick up their shovels, make their way into the trenches and continue to dig for pragmatic solutions.
Five-term Rep. Kenny Marchant is a prime example of a steady eddy among the North Texas congressional delegation.
Since the Carrollton Republican first won his seat in 2004, his trademark has been drilling deep into details and providing a steady hand on efforts ranging from tax reforms to federal budgets.
He has earned our respect as a plain-spoken realist with deep and trusted institutional knowledge. His work on the influential Ways and Means Committee gives him the opportunity to apply his fiscally conservative principles to the shaping of issues such as Social Security and Medicare.
Marchant, 63, faces two opponents for the District 24 seat, which includes an area along the Dallas-Tarrant County line and a portion of Denton County.
Democrat Patrick McGehearty, a 63-year-old computer scientist from Lewisville, has chosen this race to make his first-ever run for public office. He confesses he’s never met Marchant, and his answers on both his questionnaire and in his interview fell short of the depth of knowledge needed to effectively represent constituents. He calls for greater bipartisan cooperation and an end to congressional gridlock yet considers only Republicans at fault.
Also on the ballot is Libertarian Mike Kolls.
In today’s hypercharged, rancorous Congress, it’s refreshing to recommend a steady eddy like Marchant who just wants to get the work done well.
