I usually agree with The Editor about early voting. It’s less because some big bombshell could land on the weekend before Election Day, although that’s a consideration. For me, it’s more about the ritual of voting. The idea that all of us get together on one day and, in spite of all of our differences, celebrate that our politics are decided in this gloriously messy way – as opposed to firing squads or secret police or strange women lying in ponds distributing swords. Until last fall, my polling place was within walking distance of my house, and I enjoyed that walk as a symbol of the sacrifices so many brave people throughout our history have made to preserve that right.

I’ve always thought that while voting should certainly be convenient, it maybe shouldn’t be too convenient. Again, there is the nod to the people who literally died so we could keep voting every two years. But I’ve also always felt (a bit unfairly, I will readily admit) that if you can’t plan ahead to leave for work a little early so you can cast your ballot, you probably aren’t super diligent about doing the research on the folks you’re choosing to manage our money or our public safety. (And if you’re rushing to the comments section to lecture me on how minorities and poor people are “disenfranchised” without early voting, please stop before you expose yourself as a bigot by slanderously implying such folks are too dumb to know how to read a calendar.)

This primary vote was different, though. I’m not really that worked up (either for or against) over any of the candidates (although I did really enjoy voting for Ben Kieckhefer over the cartoonishly absurd Gary Schmidt). The big GOP primary races probably aren’t in doubt – they certainly aren’t on my ballot. The ritual just didn’t have the same urgency to me this summer, and so I chose convenience.

I’m a little sad about that, too. I like being nerdily excited to vote. I like standing in the same line as people from other political tribes, knowing we share much, including the belief in the importance of our civic duties as free women and men. I like having candidates to feel truly proud of voting for – the most I can say for most of them this year is that any and all of them will almost certainly exceed my expectations.

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On the other hand, with as crazy and mean-spirited as our politics are these days, dull is somewhat refreshing. It makes punditry a little tougher – most of these races are too local to poll (or poll accurately), and so there isn’t even horse-race-calling to fall back on. But there is great virtue in knowing that the outcome of an election is unlikely to change too many lives too dramatically. I still think the best argument for limiting government is to meet too many ambitious politicians.

It’s nice to see Republican politics calmer. There is a lot less wrangling over who the True Conservative™ is, which is good – that nonsense helped ensure enduring Democratic control of the Legislature. The only threat to this ideological hegemony in the Legislature is the Democrats themselves, who as a result of letting Donald Trump live in their heads rent-free these days, are factionalizing and radicalizing in some frankly disturbing and probably self-destructive ways.

I’m looking forward to their candidates just out-and-out calling themselves socialists and pretending Venezuela and Cuba and the Iron Curtain never existed while parroting all of the same slogans as the governments of those evil failures. But that too will pass - the resulting electoral drubbing will be healthy for everyone. (Either that, or politicians in Utah will stump on stemming the tide of the Nevadaization of their state as our economic refugees flee…)

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I think the biggest political win for Nevada this summer, though, is something that really isn’t political at all, and that’s the amazing debut season of the Golden Knights. I like sports, but have never invested too heavily in sports fandom –it comes from growing up in a state without a major sports franchise, I suppose.

One of the things that makes politics toxic is when everything is about politics – food, sports, popular entertainment, what we wear…  It’s exhausting and divisive. A healthy society can have competitive politics but still have a unifying culture, and that’s something that’s starting to fray (by design from people who profit from those politics). The Knights did a lot to knit that culture back together, and indeed to cultivate a real culture that didn’t even really exist before. It even gave Northern Nevada an excuse to cheer for Las Vegas…  This is the public service of sports, and why the NFL is not wrong to want to limit the use of the gridiron as an op/ed page.

It’s not the only such thing – we have plenty of rituals to remind us we share more than we don’t. This time of year especially there are the graduation ceremonies, from the actual high school and college ones to the superfluous but undeniably adorable elementary school or kindergarten versions.

It will be interesting to digest the results of the primaries, especially the Democratic gubernatorial primary. But for now, we should embrace and enjoy the political dullness – and all the glorious non-political parts of the lives we all share together.

Orrin Johnson has been writing and commenting on Nevada and national politics since 2007. He started with an independent blog, First Principles, and was a regular columnist for the Reno Gazette-Journal from 2015-2016. By day, he is a deputy district attorney for Carson City. His opinions here are his own. Follow him on Twitter @orrinjohnson, or contact him at [email protected].