Chris Mazzia insists what he did wasn’t that big of a deal.

I beg to differ.

In the biggest elections, the biggest deals are efforts like his.

Mazzia, a lawyer who lives in Santa Rosa, is making his second trip to Nevada in a month to pound the pavements of Democracy.

He will travel approximately 230 miles one way to walk the streets, knock on doors and talk to strangers. They all support Kamala Harris. They all support Democracy. All for the future of this nation.

Nevada, next door to deep blue California, is one of seven battleground states that will likely determine the next president of the United States.

Voters in Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia, as well as Nevada, are seen as key to securing 270 delegate votes and the presidency.

Mazzia said there’s a lot at stake in staying at home.

“You watch the news or you read the newspaper and you take whatever anxiety you’re feeling and say, ‘Okay, what do I do? How can I channel this?’” he said. “I can feel sad. I can grumble with my friends. But hey, I can do something.

So Mazzia hit the “Volunteer” button on Harris’ campaign page.

Four years ago, Democrats — at least the Joe Biden campaign — dramatically scaled back their so-called field play because of the pandemic. It was an election that appeared to be made with an abundance of caution, but it also disrupted the shoe leather campaign that had been seen as the Democrats’ strength for decades.

This has come into play again under Vice President Harris’ administration. Whether directly through the Harris campaign or through other groups Create Vote Seed And IndivisibleDemocrats are marching through neighborhoods, putting up door signs and trying to get votes.

“Inaction is unacceptable,” Mazzia said.

wife Writing postcards in support of Harris. Other people are writing checks or making phone calls. Mazzia’s comfort zone includes hiking zones.

“I thought, ‘OK, there’s no point in doing anything here in California.’ I’m going to go to a battlefield situation.’”

Walking the talk.

It’s not entirely new in practice. He rallied for local candidates in Sonoma County for years, and he also He ran for Supreme Court justice in 2010.

But a few months ago, she decided to click the “volunteer” button.

“They ask you, ‘What do you want to do? Would you like to make a phone call? Send message? Do you drink coffee?’”

Mazzia has stated that he wants to walk the areas, or “canal” them in campaign strategists’ parlance.

“It’s not you Taylor Swift or Bruce Springsteenso you do what you’re comfortable with,” he said. “I like walking around the city neighborhoods and I like meeting people, so that’s fine with me.”

He trained on Zoom. He saw others were also from Sonoma County. She learned some talking points and received training on the app the Harris campaign uses to understand and record voter concerns and issues.

And he left.

“You came to the local office and I was lucky, I had a partner from Idaho, we got in his car,” he said. “You install the app, type in the region, and say, ‘Okay, we’re off. ‘You take the odds, I take the evens, and we’ll meet in half an hour or hour.’”

In this case, volunteers were asked to knock on the doors of only registered Democrats and perhaps some independents.

“They will be registered voters,” he said. “These are people who have voted in the past, and they’re usually Democrats, Independents, Libertarians, things like that. So knock on the door and see what happens.”

Some open their doors to him. Some are getting involved. Other doors will remain closed when a stranger is seen, in which case Mazzia will write a quick note on Kamala Harris’s campaign flyer, hang it on the door, and walk away.

He will do this for hours.

If Mazzia confirms he supports the Harris/Walz ticket, he moves on to the second phase of the conversation: Will they vote? Are there any plans for a vote? Got any last minute questions?

And even among voters who call themselves strong Harris supporters, Mazzia’s job is to ask why. What were the issues that really affected them?

“I asked a few strong supporters what helped you make your decision, what got you excited, what kept you up at night, what worried you about this election.” he said.

All of this information was noted and fed back to the Harris campaign.

“The higher-ups analyze everything: What’s on their mind? What are the obstacles to getting them out?” said Mazzia.

Mazzia’s hope is that simply showing up and being willing to participate can give you the confidence that can make a difference, he said.