It's An Exercise: Civic Engagement Beyond Election Day

T

he nagging pain in my left leg and lower back won’t go away if I don’t get up, stretch and get some exercise, every day.

I’ve told a doctor and a chiropractor about it, and they’re still not sure where it came from. It could be the hours of commuting and then sitting while writing, or maybe the years of jogging on concrete, hooping on blacktop and bike riding as a lifestyle. Whatever. All I know is: Without exercise, the pain makes it difficult to move forward. So I have to get up, stretch and exercise daily.

The cold weather compounds the issue, but the autumn leaves on the eastern lawn of California’s State Capitol building provide a sight for a sore back as the morning sun rises on Sacramento. It’s Election Day 2024.

Dog walkers in jackets stroll past sipping hot beverages, as maintenance workers in safety vests prune rose bushes. In the distance, behind a chainlink fence, metal clangs as construction workers focus on the State Capitol Annex Project. With the goal of remodeling the eastern portion of the Capitol building, bringing it up to code and adding an underground parking structure, the project has had some setbacks since it started in the summer of 2023.

I read about it on my phone while pausing to stretch on a bench. Surrounded by a diversity of plant life — southern magnolias and Japanese bonsai trees — I consider the shared truth between this construction job, my nagging injury and the future of this country: Change needs to happen because the current state of things isn’t working. Progress is slow, and it will have setbacks. But nothing comes without constant exercise.

There’s a monumental election happening right now. Voters’ concerns range from reproductive rights to war overseas, prison reform to the future of local leadership. Making America “great again” by re-electing former President Donald Trump or ushering in the first woman as President of the United States, current Vice President Kamala Harris.

Polls indicate that this country is divided, and as I type, results are trickling in that will cement those predictions.

Many are glued to devices watching results. Others are numb to it. Months of paid ads, spam calls and news reports have become white noise for large swaths of Americans. But I’m here to remind people that removing yourself from the process is a distraction, but it doesn’t heal the pain. It’s akin to not exercising.

But I feel for folks who want to get away from this political construct.

It takes a certain commitment to democracy to stand out in the cold and work at the election booths — a different layer of skin to be able to sit through this current news cycle. And given what we’ve seen in our lifetime, on all levels of government, I can understand being uninterested in the electoral process as a whole.

But as they say in sports, when it’s late in the season and the pain from injuries is starting to accumulate, “This time of year, we’re all a little banged up.”

So yes, I get it. We’re all a bit over it.  And at the same time, voting is important. But here’s my point: So is the broader idea of exercising.

Move your body in whatever way you can. If possible and you’re willing, cast your ballot. And after that, pick up some trash or wave to a neighbor. Volunteer at a community center or support an online initiative. Civic engagement is the deeper call of this moment.

What’s more, we have to collectively understand that this exercise alone will not eradicate the pain. The issues won’t just up and vanish, the problems won’t dissipate. Nope, it just becomes a part of the process of playing the game.

To drive this sports metaphor home, look no further than last night’s scoreboard.

On Monday Night Football, Kansas City Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes led a slow march down the field to an overtime victory after injuring his leg earlier in the game. Meanwhile in Paris, star USC basketball player JuJu Watkins opened the NCAA season by dropping 27 points in a victory, looking fully healed from last season’s setbacks, which included an ankle injury in the spring. And a person all too familiar with ankle injuries, Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry, returned to the lineup from his most recent ankle-related stint on the injured reserve to drop 24 points in a win against the Washington Wizards.

The athletes remind us that injuries and setbacks are part of the game. For voters, it’s the issues, candidate choices and lack of progress that are also part of the proverbial game. And just like injuries, they can be difficult to deal with — defeating, even. But if you don’t get up, stretch and continue to put work in, progress will never come.