Barack Obama To Contest For President Of France

Could France elect Barack Obama president? Not really -- but that's not stopping the organizers of Obama17, a guerrilla campaign trying to entice the former U.S. president to head to Paris.

"It's totally crazy, but the cool thing is that once you get past that, you start thinking that maybe it's possible. Who cares that he's not French? He's Barack Obama," one of the campaign organizers told CNN.

They've launched a website and they put up 500 posters of Obama around Paris last weekend, said the organizer. He asked to be identified only as Antoine.

They're hoping to get 1 million people to sign a petition urging Obama to run.

Yes, it's a joke, he admits -- but one with a serious purpose.

"We want to show that people are fed up with the politicians here. People are tired about it and they like this joke. It gives people a little fun amid all these scandals," he said.

French voters go to the polls April 23 in the first round of voting for a new president. If no one gets more than 50% of the vote, the top two finishers go to a runoff on May 7.