MOUNT OLIVE – When Mike Crispi saw attempts surfacing around the country to not allow Donald Trump on the 2024 ballot, he went in the other direction.

He organized a “Hands Off My Ballot” campaign with the goal of getting supporters to file thousands and thousands of petition signatures on the former president’s behalf.

To that end, Crispi and the “America First Republicans” are touring the state for Trump petition-signing rallies, one of which took place last Saturday at a local brew pub with about 100 or so people attending.

Crispi, who unsuccessfully challenged long-time Rep. Chris Smith (CD-4) in the 2022 Republican primary, said the crowd was a bit smaller than usual. Then again, Saturday’s weather was pretty brutal.

In the strident rhetoric common for such things, a statement from the group proclaimed: “The importance of the “Hands Off My Ballot” Trump Petition Tour can’t be understated as President Trump endures vicious attacks from the Marxist left, the compromised media, and the treacherous deep state.”

As you can judge from that, this is not a group keen on compromise.

Crispi, in fact, ridiculed attempts to marry America First Republicans with the “Rinos.” That’s not what he and the movement he co-chairs with Bergen County Assemblyman Robert Auth and Dr. Stephen Soloway, the author of Bad Medicine, a book critical of the state of today’s health care, is all about.

What it is about is “action, action, action,” Crispi said. “Let’s deliver him the record number (of signatures) that he deserves.”

By touring the state – Salem County was on the schedule for Sunday – the group’s obvious goal is not only to get petition signatures for Trump, but more importantly, to get votes for him this fall.

Or, as they put it in Trump-land, one way to counteract the “fraud” is to overwhelm it with Trump votes – and more Trump votes.

The group was enthused when Crispi talked about poll numbers that as of now are favorable to Trump, adding that he hopes to bring the former president to New Jersey for a rally. Some may recall then-President Trump did have a 2020 rally in Wildwood.

Every Trump event, naturally, drifts off into allegations of fraud and related conspiracy theories; The Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol was described at one point as a “false flag” operation.

Some supporters said they hope to elect Trump for a “third time.”

One speaker listed all the alleged misdeeds surrounding the 2020 vote that he said improperly prevented Trump from winning again. Left unsaid was that none of those allegations was new, and that various courts throughout the land had dismissed them, including the U.S. Supreme Court. The many court challenges changed no electoral votes.

In the midst of this came a refreshing step into reality. It was delivered by Michael Forem of Alpine in northern Bergen County.

He said MAGA-Republicans have to vote by mail-in ballot. In other words, beat the Dems at their own game.

Forem, in fact, was pretty dire, saying that Republicans will lose if they stay away from mail-in voting.

Democrats have long dominated the mail-in ballots in New Jersey and across the nation. With mail-in ballots often counted first, it is common to see a Democratic candidate with a comfortable lead as soon as the polls close.

This is both a symbolic and a real problem for Republicans. Think of a football team that’s always losing by two touchdowns after the first quarter.

Many New Jersey Republicans have been urging more attention to mail-in ballots for at least the last three years, but it does not seem to get through to average GOP voters.

Trump, who has been critical of mail in ballots, is a big reason why.

And that’s a pretty big obstacle for America First Republicans to overcome.