We did have some political discussion but agreed it wasn't a net positive contribution to the culture we wanted to form. So we experimented with a no-politics rule and it stuck.
I would argue that it's a cynical way to look at the world, and it doesn't foster an environment for collaborative, clear-thinking problem solving.
Most things we do simply aren't political (at least not intentionally, not saying they can't be interpreted by others that way), they're just things we do from being on autopilot most of the time. And I strongly want to give people the benefit of the doubt unless it's quite obvious that they meant some form of malice by an action.
I still have no idea what most of our employees' political leanings are. What is important to me is that they are (genuinely) kind and respectful to each other, have a desire to work together, and that we are solving problems and helping our customers every day.
It's important to me that people have one place they can go to, where we work together as a team to focus on the problems we and our clients face, and come up with solutions to those problems in as objective a way as we can, as fellow human beings. That's the kind of team I would want to work with. And since it's in my control, I'm making it happen.
Not saying everything's perfect obviously, we're all still human, but we do aspire to preserve that aspect of our culture.
This in itself is an achievement.