Reince Priebus picks Romney over his beloved Packers

ITK got a chance to chat with the Republican National Committee chairman last week before he hit the stage to talk the future of politics at USA Today’s 30th-anniversary celebration at the National Portrait Gallery. The newspaper also unveiled a new look and website at the glitzy soiree.

When asked if he’d prefer a Romney White House or his NFL team winning football’s biggest game, Priebus told us, “Romney beating Obama, absolutely.” 

{mosads}Although he picked politics over pigskin, Priebus reiterated, “I’m a big Packers fan,” and admits he sometimes goes to extreme measures to squeeze some Packers viewing into his packed scheduled. “I got [DirecTV] on my iPad if I get desperate. I have to. The Cheesehead revolution has to keep rolling,” he explained.

The diehard football fan isn’t above a bit of self-deprecating humor. During his remarks to a packed audience he declared, “You’ve got to admit, I’ve got a pretty weird name. Who names their kid Reince?”

Priebus says in his family, the buck stops at his unusual moniker. “My kids are named Jack and Grace. We went the opposite direction of my parents.”

He then cracked, “Someone told me the other day that if you take the vowels out of ‘Reince Priebus,’ you get ‘R-N-C.’ And it gets better: The last name [spells out] ‘P-R’ [and] ‘B-S,’ so it’s very fitting.”