The political condition of the world just got even weirder, if that is humanly possible. With the scandal emanating from the current French presidential campaign leading up to the election in April, some French citizens want to give up on their own candidates completely and have petitioned for U.S. President Barack Obama to run instead. Earlier this week, they launched the "Obama 2017" campaign, which calls on the former U.S. President to step up and put himself forward as a candidate in the upcoming French election.
The campaign’s statement said that Obama has now completed his second term as the U.S.
President, so why not hire him to lead France, adding that he does have the best resume for the job. 500 posters for the Obama 2017 campaign are popping up all over the French capital with the slogan, "Oui on peut," which is French for "Yes we can." Besides the posters, a campaign website has been launched to gather signatures, in an attempt to persuade President Obama to run in the upcoming election.
While this might all sound rather strange, according to NPR, this is not the first time that French citizens have expressed the desire for Obama to lead their country. Reportedly there were at least two petitions launched last year, but the latest one is much more successful–well, in attracting signatures anyway.
According to the organizers of the petition, around 27,000 French citizens have signed so far.
#Obama2017 #ouionpeut #Presidentielle2017 #paris pic.twitter.com/6I74x2KTif
— Laurent YoungStork (@LC_Youngstork) February 23, 2017
Like most good ideas, Obama17 was launched after a few drinks
According to the NPR report, a group of four, 30-year-old guys came up with the idea after having a drink or two.
Reportedly, all four work in creative industries and they have certainly been creative in the new campaign. However, the spokesman told NPR not to use his name, as what they are doing could have legal consequences that might damage his career. The spokesman said they were thinking about French politics and the fact they only had someone to vote against, with no one they admire to actually vote for.
Then they came up with the idea of getting Obama involved. According to the spokesman, he thinks the whole world would love to have the former U.S. President leading their countries.
French people calling for Obama to step forward as a candidate in the French election https://t.co/HUyjLUUbDh #OuiOnPeut 🇫🇷✊🏼😆 pic.twitter.com/kAUSFeBAvB
— Emma Stoetzel (@ZelSto) February 24, 2017
Barack Obama would need to become a French citizen
The major drawback in the whole idea is that Obama would need to be naturalized as a French citizen in order to run for the office. He would also, naturally, have to learn to speak French, although apparently Michelle did study the language in college.
Obama for (French) President 😂 #yeswecan #ouionpeut #obama17 pic.twitter.com/VakST1fh0E
— Anshuman (@anshuman) February 22, 2017
As reported by the Verge – and before readers start to think this is a serious option – one of the co-creators of the Obama 2017 website did say that the whole thing is actually a joke, but he did add that it might make people think about what they could do differently in French politics and it could possibly wake people up.
The co-creator went on to say that the campaign is an expression of frustration about politics in France generally, adding that it is always the same people running, from the same schools, who always give ministry jobs to their friends.