Is the 'National Yard Sale For Obama' a Joke?

Is next weekend's National Yard Sale For Obama a serious fundraising effort by the Obama campaign? Well, sort of.

The 2012 election has shown us some of the most innovative campaign fundraising ideas in history. Both the Romney and Obama campaigns have made use of the lottery or raffle-type fundraising to entice large groups of small donors ($3 - $15) with the dream of winning a lunch, dinner, or other chance to meet the candidates in a very small group.

The Obama campaign has also sent out numerous emails suggesting that supporters donate their weekly "pizza money" and even encouraged engaged couples to have  a campaign donation to the president on their bridal registry gift list.  That was the pitch that actually talked about a donation to the campaign using these words:

"It's a gift we can all appreciate, and it goes a lot further than a gravy boat."

What about this "National Yard Sale For Obama?" (NYS4O)

At first glance NYS4O sounded more like a Jimmy Kimmel or Jon Stewart bit. Is this really something from the campaign? TheBlaze looked into it: NYS4O is real and it is also endorsed by the Obama-Biden campaign.

Fox Nation is reporting that "Obama Campaign has named September 22-23 'the national yard sale for Obama.'" That's not exactly the case.

While the yard sale is not an "official" campaign event, it does appear in the "Grassroots" section of the BarackObama.com website. There might be some confusion about the association of events like this because the bottom of the page clearly states, "PAID FOR BY OBAMA FOR AMERICA." Technically, the NYS4O is not an official Obama campaign event, but it is given the "thumbs up" from the Obama-Biden crew.

NYS4O also has a Facebook page that states:

This is your chance to show them how the Dems do it. No big corporate donations, my friend. This time it's about a grassroots movement to show this country of undecided voters that Obama has serious support.

The Facebook and Grassroots Fundraising pages are reporting that more than 500 people have signed up to participate in the National Yard Sale For Obama (either online or on their front lawns).

For the record, the 2008 Obama campaign listed many large donations from corporate entities, including Wall Street giants Goldman Sachs and JP MorganChase. And, in 2012, Mr. Obama and the Democrats continue to reel in huge sums of money from those "fat cats" in the financial world. This past July, The Wall Street Journal reported on the Dems $14 million dollar take from the securities and investment industry. You would need to sell a lot of used waffle irons or Obama bobble head dolls to raise that kind of money.