Elections 101: CT Republican Party Chairman Benjamin Proto On Candidates’ and Voters’ Responsibilities

With the 2024 election coming into full swing, candidates will begin revving up their campaigns for people’s votes while voters will have to begin considering whom they’ll vote for. To better prepare readers for this election season, The Goshen News will speak to different leaders in our state and federal government as well as educators for their perspectives and advice candidates’ and voters’ responsibilities. Recently Goshen News spoke with Connecticut State Republican Party Chairman Benjamin Proto about the nature of elections, candidates, and news reporting. Proto is an attorney at the Stratford-based Proto Law Firm and has served as the Chairman for the Republican Party since 2021. 

Proto asserted that every election is important, whether it be a small-town vote or a vote with national impact. Every vote has the potential to determine how municipalities or the greater country will grow and change and how those changes will impact individual lives. “Who we’re going to be when we grow up, as I put it to a lot of people, and I think that’s kind of what the electorate has to decide in each election,” said Proto. “In 2024, what does America want to be when it grows up? And that’s a question that gets asked a lot in a lot of different ways. Where are we today and where do we want to be in 10 years, in 20 years?” While the United States is nearly 250 years old, elections still have the power to sway the near and far future for the country as well as for individuals.

In terms of candidates and voter’s responsibilities towards others and democracy overall, Proto claimed that it’s  the candidates’ responsibility to determine what’s important to voters and how their positions relate to what the people want. Voters won’t support candidates if they’re not properly addressing issues that are important to them. According to Proto, engagement with the public by campaigning ahead of elections, “That’s the candidates’ job… That’s what a campaign is,… educating the voter on the candidate or candidates, both yourself and your opponent, and providing as much information as you can for the voter to make a decision as to who they want to support.”  When asked about giving information about their qualifications and backgrounds, he agreed that this is also the candidates job. 

At the same time, it’s the voters’ responsibility to properly research their candidates through reliable, accurate media or hearing from candidates directly. Sources like UPI, REUTERS, AP  as well as many network news channels are good standard sources. Proto warned that what a lot of people consider to be news is often opinion and hyperbole and not balanced, unbiased news. “...you’ve got now newspaper reporters, not columnists, not editorial writers, but reporters who are not writing who, what, when, where, why, but they’re writing (what they) believe…”  

“A lot of this misinformation is often spread due to the short attention span nature of social media through platforms such as X, TikTok and many others. This is opinion information; not news.  And how do you judge what is accurate? While media such as newspapers or magazines could often give candidates the time to explain their platform and their plans in-depth, a lot of people these days aren’t interested or don’t have the time to delve deeply into long narratives. Instead, many candidates use media’s catering to those with short attention spans to put their opponents in negative lights.”  He explained that generally the attention span of the viewer is about 7 seconds for any story.  So what you say in that time will either draw you in or make you turn the channel or station.  So what sells….the negative story.  Everyone complains about negative stories, but they read or listen to them! “What’s easier for me to do? Try to explain tax policy or transportation policy to get your attention in seven seconds or in seven seconds tell you my opponent’s an idiot?”

Proto was asked about why there are seats unchallenged.  His response was that many times both parties can’t find candidates.  He explained that in today’s world, it’s not only the candidate that is scrutinized, which is fair game, but many times, family members are pulled onto this landscape with many ugly results.  Can you understand why so many good, capable people don’t want to run and put their families in harms way.  If we want more people who are qualified and decent to run, we have to remember this issue.