今年4月23日，法国人民就要投票选出新一任的总统了。可是，大家发现，今年的几位候选人都不怎么行。弗朗索瓦•菲永(Francois Fillon)因陷入家人“吃空饷”的丑闻，民调持续走低；极右翼候选人马丽娜•勒庞（Marine Le Pen）最近又曝出助手涉嫌冒领欧盟薪水被拘的新闻。其他几位候选人的民调情况也都不是很乐观。
于是，有热心的网友专门建了个网站Obama2017，招呼刚刚卸任的美国总统奥巴马来竞选法国总统。奥巴马并不是法国人，自然没有参选资格。但是，网友们却不理会这些。目前，Obama2017的网络请愿已经得到4万多名网友的支持了。
我们来看看BBC对这件事的报道：
An online petition urging Barack Obama to stand in the French election has attracted more than 42,000 supporters.
一项呼吁奥巴马参与法国总统竞选的网络请愿活动已经得到了4.2万多人的支持。
Campaign posters reading "Oui, on peut" - a translation of the former US president's popular 2008 campaign slogan, "Yes, we can" - have appeared around Paris.
写着“Oui, on peut”（即奥巴马2008年的竞选口号“Yes, we can”的法语版）的活动海报在巴黎随处可见。
Mr Obama is not a French citizen and is thus ineligible to run.
奥巴马不是法国公民，自然没有参选资格。
But those behind the prank say the point is to highlight the lack of inspirational candidates.
不过，发起这个活动的人表示，他们的目的是强调指出本届大选缺少让人有信心的候选人。
Their message to the candidates, one of the organizers told the BBC, is: "Hey guys, you really don't make us dream."
一位组织者对BBC表示，他们想要传达给候选人的信息是：“各位，你们真是没给我们什么希望。”
French voters go to the polls on 23 April, and, unless one polls more than 50% in the first round, they will return on 7 May to decide between the two frontrunners.
法国民众会在4月23日进行投票，如果没有候选人在第一轮投票中获得半数以上的票数，就要在5月7日进行第二轮投票，从第一轮中得票最高的两个候选人当中选出总统。
A dominant figure in the campaign has been far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who has benefited from claims of financial wrongdoing which have swirled around the campaign of her centre-right rival Francois Fillon since late January, culminating last week in the announcement that a magistrate was launching a formal inquiry into the claims.
目前在大选中占据主导地位的是极右翼领导人马丽娜•勒庞。1月底以来，中右翼候选人菲永身陷财务丑闻，上周官方又宣布法官将对该事件展开正式调查。这一系列事件让马丽娜•勒庞获益不少。
Current opinion polls give her a lead of several percentage points over Mr Fillon and centrist Emmanuel Macron - though both of her rivals are predicted to beat her in a two-way runoff.
目前的民调显示，勒庞的支持率比菲永和中间派候选人曼努尔•马克龙领先几个百分点。不过，有预测表示，菲永和马克龙会在两轮投票中击败勒庞。
Ms Le Pen may be backed by a greater number of French voters than ever, but her enduring toxicity for many of the rest means the campaign has been dominated by a negative message, say commentators: How can we keep her out?
支持勒庞的选民或许比以往多，但是她对其余人的“毒害”意味着这场大选一直在被负面信息主导，评论人士纷纷表示：我们怎么把她踢出局？
玛丽娜·勒庞是谁？
48岁的玛丽娜·勒庞是前法国“国民阵线”主席老勒庞（让·马利·勒庞）之女，“国民阵线”领导人。“国民阵线”以极端偏激和右翼著称。有“法国最危险女人”之称的玛丽娜·勒庞被认为和她父亲一样反移民、反穆斯林。此外，玛丽娜也反对堕胎、同性婚姻。谈及欧盟，玛丽娜大胆预测：就像苏联一样，欧盟也会瓦解。她在竞选活动中称欧洲应放弃欧元，法国要准备有计划地退出欧元区。
It is this, in part, that the organizers of the Obama2017 campaign - Parisians in their 30s - are reacting to.
一群30多岁的巴黎人对此做出的反应就是，发起奥巴马2017活动。
"It's still possible to vote for a president and not against a candidate," their website reasons.
他们的网站说：“可以选出一位总统，而不是抵制一位候选人。”
"We are anti-political, we are not against any candidate in particular, but we are not a big fan of any of them. [This campaign is] a way to say 'Guys, eh wake up - you are uncool, and this campaign is uncool - we'd rather have Obama'," said one of the organizers.
一位组织者表示：“我们是反政治的，我们不针对任何一个候选人，但我们也不支持任何一个。这个活动其实就是想说‘各位，醒醒吧。你们都不够好，这场选战也不够好，我们宁愿让奥巴马来竞选。’”
The viral take-off of the campaign caught them by surprise - but the French media, said the organiser, has failed to get the joke.
这个活动走红让他们颇感意外，不过，法国媒体似乎并没有明白这里的玩笑成分。
"They are very annoyed, people take it all too seriously," he said, adding that even the left-leaning newspaper Liberation ended a short piece on the campaign on a sniffy note: "If that's what amuses them..."
这位组织者说：“他们非常懊恼，人们对这件事都看得太严肃了。”他表示，连左倾的《自由报》在报道这个活动的结尾处都傲慢地加了一句：“如果这就是能让他们开心的事儿…”
"We want this to stay on the joke level," he says.
“我们希望这个活动只是个玩笑。”