From the outside, it’s hard to know what kind of talking points might be circulating in the upper echelons of political parties, or what interests might be served by making particular statements to the press at key moments in the election cycle.

That said, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus had this to say about Donald Trump’s White House chances, which would seem to run counter to some GOP operatives’ own observations on the subject (per The Washington Post):

“I’m not one of these people that think that Donald Trump can’t win a general election,” Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus told The Post. “I actually think there is a huge crossover appeal there to people that are disengaged politically that he speaks to. … Donald Trump taps into the culture.”

Priebus is in the occasionally unpleasant position of always having to put a positive spin on his party’s chances, so it’s not clear if he actually believes this argument. But let’s take him at face value. He thinks Trump could win a general election because there is a group of “disengaged” Americans — which is to say, Americans who vote rarely or never — that will show up to give him their votes.

The paper went on to qualify that claim by noting that Trump’s chances hinge on voters coming out for the primaries in crucial states like Iowa.

–Posted by Kasia Anderson

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