No, I’m not Going Jogging with You

Oh, I get it. She’s running. He’s running. Everybody’s running. On TV. On the Internet. On the socials. Candidates are… running.

Get it? It’s the crack of dawn, they’re lacing up their joggers, and they’re hitting the pavement. Because guess what, double meaning!

They’re actually running… for office!

They’re racing… towards solutions! They’re jogging… into a brighter future! Guffaw!

Me? I’m exhausted.

The thing’s been done to death. Which is about how I used to feel after a lap around the track in PE.

According to my extensive online research, Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley actually started the entire trend back in 2018, with a neat little ad that showed him jogging through his hometown while voters joined him one after another on the street.

We watched it and we gave him credit. It was new and it seemed like a clever play on words. It also made a little sense. Folks who’d followed Calley’s career in the executive branch knew he was a serious runner. It was his “thing.”

And yeah, sure, it’s entirely possible our current Secretary of State and 2026 Democratic gubernatorial primary candidate Jocelyn Benson is an endurance athlete, but it’s certainly not the first thing longtime observers associate her with.

If she ran an ad that showed her using AI to ghostwrite her social media feed, we’d all get it.

If she ran an ad that showed her driving Chinese criminals to the departures terminal at Detroit International, we’d nod and concede, ‘hey, makes sense.’

If she ran an ad that showed her maniacally yanking out hundreds of wires attached to Internet servers labeled “Campaign Finance Reports,” showering the screen with sparks and chaos, we’d tweet the GIF of Steve Rogers deadpanning “I get that reference.”

But running? You run? I guess she runs.

State Representative Jaime Churches “runs.”

Now Detroit Mayoral candidate Mary Sheffield is “running.”

They’re doing it in other states, too.

Raphael Warnock did it in Georgia in 2022.

Voters were collectively out of breath in 2024, watching candidates in Minnesota, Missouri and Texas beat feet.

It’s all just so unoriginal. Repetitive. Inauthentic. Overdone.

Who do we blame? The candidates? Their media consultants? Big Jogging?

I’m not sure.

I’m much more sure that entering our 5th cycle of this tired trope, voters deserve something better. Maybe be serious about some of the big challenges facing the state or the city or the Congress and talk about the serious things you’re going to do to address them.

Be simple. Be direct. Be normal.

Because the next time I see a politician tackling a 5K the only thing I’m running for is the remote.