Michael Steel just said something that was:

• Provocative, and
• Not blindingly stupid.

What he said was that, if Republicans want to get minorities to vote for them they have to stop trying to trying to suppress their votes:

Steele said the RNC’s autopsy of the 2012 election does nothing to address the substantive reasons why the party fails to connect with minorities, highlighting voter identification laws championed by many Republicans, including Priebus, that disproportionately affect black voters.

“How does Reince Priebus reconcile his approach and his agreement with voter registration policies that many in the black community view as anti-black, racist, whatever the term happens to be,” Steele said. “You’ve got to reconcile how people feel about your policies, not just the fact that you’re going to show up. You can show up any time. It’s what you say and what you do when you get there that matters most to people.”

He’s right, of course, and he did not put his foot in his mouth in the progress.

I’m pleasantly surprised.