Caprio + Chafee: the Yankee prism

There’s a September 14 primary to narrow the Dem/Republican fields for governor, of course. But if Democrat Frank Caprio and independent Lincoln Chafee wind up as the top-two combatants in November, it’s worth considering their respective approaches as  decidely different Yankees.

Here’s what I mean: Chafee is a Yankee in the sense of being someone with deep roots in this nation.

As befits the type, Chafee is not showy about his wealth or ambition. (First-time volunteers trying yesterday to find his traditional campaign office on Airport Road in Warwick might have had a bit of a challenge, given its low-profile location around the corner from busy Post Road, with no visible signage on the main drag.) The refreshment of choice was pizza strips and soda. Chafee was confident about getting his ballot signatures, but he’s not in a big rush.

And while talking about tax hikes remains politically risky, Chafee believes his persona as an upfront kind of guy, rather than someone supporting de facto property tax hikes, will carry the day.

Caprio, meanwhile, is a Yankee in the sense of the discipline and swagger of the baseball team from the Bronx. Yes, Caprio is a Red Sox fan who once squared off against Roger Clemens when Caprio was playing baseball for Harvard.

But Caprio’s campaign presses every opportunity, from fundraising to steadily trying to build a sense of inevitability. Like announcing how the candidate has already met his threshhold for gathering ballot signatures (while other candidates are still collecting their John Hancocks):

Team Caprio covered the state on Wednesday and became the first gubernatorial campaign to collect 1000 nomination signatures. Frank Caprio attributed the rapid response to his campaign’s signature drive to the aggressive utilization of social media networks.  Throughout the day, the campaign provided updates via Facebook and Twitter as to where and when a supporter could find a volunteer to sign the nomination papers.

So, will one of these Yankees be our next governor? Or, politically speaking, is this the year when the Cubs finally come out on top?