When Donald Trump’s campaign announced that he was holding a rally in Connecticut on Saturday, the media immediately scoffed at the move, calling the non-traditional decision by Trump to campaign in a deep blue state as a clear sign of madness and desperation.

Republicans have not won Connecticut in any presidential election since 1988. 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney lost Fairfield County, the location of Trump’s rally, to President Obama by 11 points. Republicans hold none of the state’s seven seats in Congress, do not control either chamber of the state legislature and do not control the governor’s mansion.

“Certainly there’s a Republican opportunity to talk about high taxes in the state, the loss of a lot of business.”

So why, barring madness or desperation, is Trump campaigning in the hardcore blue state?

The last public poll in the state, conducted in June, showed Trump trailing Clinton by a mere seven percent. True that survey is outdated, but if the Connecticut margin is still that tight it would be less than half the gap for Trump found in the latest Wisconsin poll and actually less than the 9 point spread for Clinton in North Carolina found by NBC/WSJ/Marist in a poll released Wednesday.

The state is also ripe for an outsider message of change. The state Democratic Party is under federal investigation for possible election fraud and the economic recovery in the Nutmeg State has far under-paced the rest of the nation. Connecticut consistently ranks near the bottom of states for business, while also regularly making the top five for largest per capita tax burden. A recent survey of gubernatorial approval ratings by Morning Consult found the state’s Democratic Gov. Dan Malloy earned a dismal 29 percent approval rating, the worst of any Democratic governor in the nation.

Trump’s play for Connecticut may not be so far-fetched after all — the Republican nominee could inch within the margin of error if he picks up a three or four more percentage points from Clinton riding a wave of discontent among the state’s disgruntled voters.

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At a time when the Clinton campaign and the media are pushing the narrative that traditionally red states including Arizona, Georgia, or even Utah, could be in play, it would be a strong counter-punch for Trump to flip a state or two on the traditional map himself. A poll showing him within margin of error in a state like Connecticut would keep hope alive for his supporters and shake up the growing narrative that his campaign is headed swiftly towards doom as Clinton moves close in red states.

A successful offensive in Connecticut could open the path to more potential blue state inversions. Trump currently trails Clinton by 10 points in Maine, already a full five percent better than the 15-point margin Romney lost by there in 2012.

“I don’t know if he can win Fairfield…whether he can win Connecticut, it’s historically a Democratic state,” Tom Flynn, a Republican district leader in Fairfield, told Politico. “But it’s always exciting when you have any presidential candidate come to your hometown … Certainly there’s a Republican opportunity to talk about high taxes in the state, the loss of a lot of business.”