Caprio declined to explain why he wound up with the dissident Democrats rather than the larger group of representatives loyal to Speaker Murphy. “I don’t acknowledge the term ‘dissident Democrat,’ ” Caprio says. “We’re all good Democrats and proud Democrats. There are some of us that may disagree on a minority of issues. I think that’s healthy for our cause. It spurs healthy debate, compromise, and the end result is probably better.” Although he’s said to have some interest in the chairmanship of House Finance, Caprio also demurs when asked about his future in the General Assembly, rolling out the old sports adage about the wisdom of not looking past your next opponent.
Operating outside the majority has certainly worked to the political benefit of Caprio, who was one of only a handful of representatives to run without Republican opposition in 2004 — a year when Carcieri led an effort to increase GOP legislative ranks. Although this points in part to the stylistic differences between the Caprios — with Frank being cautious, and David far more aggressive and intense — it also helps to explain the seeds of Democratic suspicion.
Sleeping with the enemy?
By all accounts, Frank T. Caprio’s campaign for treasurer offers a textbook example of how to advantageously position oneself for a move into a higher office after a period of legislative service.
Caprio has gone on television early, steadily airing a biographical commercial that portrays him as a family-oriented good government type. The same theme (“Making government work for people is how Frank T. Caprio sees his role as an elected public servant”) pervades his campaign Web site, www.frankcaprio.com, which comes complete with an animated female hostess.
Unlike the hopeful who simultaneously assess multiple opportunities, Caprio focused his sights on the treasurer’s post, launching his campaign in February 2005, and he amassed a $400,000 war chest within six months. The candidate, who calls himself well-suited because of his economics training at Harvard and his subsequent professional experience, also notes with a mix of practicality and pride that he was the top statewide fundraiser in three of the four quarters last year (and that he has won all eight of his elections).
These factors, as well as the relatively thin Republican bench, could explain the current lack of any other contenders for the treasurer’s job, which will be vacated in January by the term-limited Paul Tavares. Still, it did nothing to dim questions on the part of some Democrats about a possible inside deal when Governor Carcieri gushed to Providence Journal political columnist M. Charles Bakst last November about Caprio’s qualifications as a potential state treasurer. “He tried to choose his words carefully because, he noted, Caprio is running as a Democrat,” Bakst wrote. “Nevertheless, Carcieri said, ‘He’s got all the skills . . . He’s very bright, hardworking . . . was Senate Finance chair . . . He’s got all of the requisite background.’ ”
Asked whether the governor is recruiting candidates for treasurer, and whether he would view Caprio as a member of his team, Carcieri spokesman Jeff Neal limited his comment to this: “The governor is recruiting candidates for every state office that is open this year, but at this time he is not prepared to discuss individual candidacies.”
To critics, Judge Caprio’s decision to move his family from Providence to Narragansett several decades back, as well as the judge’s friendly relations with the governor, raise the specter of a pronounced drift toward Republicanism. In January 2003, the judge and his wife attended a Carcieri fundraiser at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick — Bakst described them at the time as “Caricieri pals” — and Joyce Caprio and Marissa Caprio, Frank and David’s sister, have made campaign contributions to the governor, according to the state Board of Elections. Frank and David Caprio are also both said to be quite friendly with Jeff Britt, the governor’s liaison to House Democrats.
Considering all this, Frank Caprio’s early lock on the treasurer’s job “is a very scary proposition to a lot of progressive Democrats,” says one Democratic observer. Having someone sympathetic to the GOP side would represent a coup for Carcieri, the source says. Citing how David Caprio has been part of efforts to unseat Murphy, this Democrat adds, “They’re not true Democrats. They’re more in touch with the Carcieri clan than the Democratic Party.”
This view, however, is hardly uniform in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party.