Sure, President Obama's busy trying to solve the nation's problems.
But Megan McCluer and her husband, Michael Heffner, would like just a minute of his time to settle a mystery: As a young man, did he sit for a portrait painted by an obscure Los Angeles artist? And what's up with the shirt?
Obama supporters McCluer and Heffner bought the colorful 32-inch x 41-inch framed painting last fall to help raise money for the candidate's tiny Ojai headquarters.
Scrawled on the back is a notation that says: "BARACK OBAMA (casual attire)." Strokes of teal and burgundy provide a vibrant contrast to Obama's even more colorful striped shirt, evoking a late '70s disco vibe.
Indeed, the portrait appears to be the 44th president in his early 20s, casually seated in white slacks and that mod shirt, stylishly open at the collar. Little is known about the artist, Alan Adams, other than that he worked in Los Angeles for many years and, possibly, briefly in Hawaii.
It is believed that Adams died about 10 years ago, leaving behind works that were sold off by relatives. How and when he might have met Obama remains frustratingly unknown for the oil painting's new owners.
Obama aides said they were unable to run down the story of the portrait and added that it was "not likely" that Obama would have time to address it.
What McCluer and Heffner do know is that the portrait was given to the Ojai campaign office last fall. The Ventura woman who donated the painting declined to talk about how she acquired it, other than to confirm that it was given to her by a Los Angeles collector who wanted to remain anonymous.
Carol Lindberg, a retired teacher, said she promised the collector that she would not divulge how it came into her possession.
"I just have no comment," she said.
David Bush, who helped run the Ojai campaign office, said Lindberg walked in the night the office opened last August and offered the painting.
"She came up to me and said, 'Here I am donating this,' " Bush recalled.
Lindberg told Bush that she had come across the painting as she went through stacks of frames piled in the studio of a Los Angeles painter. The painter had bought the portrait for its frame five or six years earlier at an L.A. art auction, and had forgotten about it, Bush said Lindberg told him.
Lindberg "was going through the stacks and said, "Hey, did you know this is Barack Obama?' " Bush said.
