[img]2177|right|Suzanne Robins||no_popup[/img]Back in the good, ol’ summertime when multi-tasking Sue Robins was methodically unlimbering her maiden campaign for the School Board, semi-shrewd observers of the political climate were wagering up to a dime that she would win one of the three open seats in yesterday’s election.
If only she were a little more…
Contemporarily, mere keenness of mind seldom is a magnet. Gimmick-hungry crowds yearn for orange and blue flames. That is not Ms. Robins.
In an era dominated by voters are deliberately cynical or calculated low-information specialists, unexcitable speakers are treated like touring horseflies.
The statuesque Ms. Robins looks as if she would be dynamic from the podium.
Not her nature.
Internally, she is, but orators are not rewarded for being internists.
As she explained late last evening in the den of Paul and Madeline Ehrlich’s traditional Election Night headquarters, first she and her also pretty smart husband Terry had to figure out how to design a winning campaign.
No one yet has written a book about winning elections in compact communities of 40,000.
Like her fellow successful Board candidates, Dr. Steve Levin and incumbent Kathy Paspalis, once Ms. Robins’s message was polished – say, early to mid-October after weeks of waxing – not even a tall wall of fire could have stopped her.
Once Ms. Robins and Dr. Levin take their chairs, brainiacs will rule. Gray matter may be all that matters.
Terry and Sue Robins realized that once she convincingly conveyed to a sufficient number of voters that she has been a golden success at each of her several separate winning careers, even plodding thinkers would deduce she represented the kind of philosophical tonic the under-energized School Board needed.
Ms. Robins was charged with the most difficult task of all candidates, fending off the favored incumbent Karlo Silbiger.
After absentee ballots were posted, third-place Ms. Robins led fourth-place Mr. Silbiger by 30 votes.
After 10 of the 12 precincts were in, she widened her lead to 129 votes of breathing room, and she was feeling confident but cautious in the shadow of the finish line.
Defying virtually everyone familiar with the race, she defeated Mr. Silbiger by a hefty, unforeseeable 207 votes.
Why does Ms. Robins believe she held a winning hand?
“I am hopeful, and I believe, people voted for me because I truly am an independent,” she said.
“I believe in listening to all perspectives in making the best decisions for our kids, based on everything I have heard from those perspectives.”
Her blended experience in commerce (sales marketing and entrepreneurship) and education/teaching, and as a reliable parent volunteer were among her strongest arguments. She knows why wheels go around and how to keep them spinning.
Ms. Robins’s saddle does not seem to include much of an ego. Ergo: If she had a do-over, would she conduct her campaign differently. “Probably,” she says. “But I think for being brand new at this, we did a pretty decent job.”
Seasoned Board observers will love here response to the question, What will be her first School Board priority?
“To understand the priorities and perspectives of the other Board members,” Ms. Robins said.
The dawn of a new era has arrived.
