I’d encourage him to do more to support research on rare diseases. I’d feel like I was blowing a huge opportunity if I didn’t press him about that.
There are a lot of other points I’d want to bring up, including a lot of what’s been mentioned here. I think the foremost would be why the health care debate took the path it did - I mean from his end, strategically - and why financial reform proposals have taken so long to show up, seeing as how that was a top priority when he was elected.
I happened to watch PBS’s Frontline last night, Obama’s Deal. I didn’t realize it when I started watching, but it was all about HCR and the politics involved. Very informative, if you’re interested…
American with Disabilities Act. The one that made it required for TVs to carry captions. It didn’t envision any other mechanism outside for a TV, and fails to consider other channels along which captions might be carried – HDMI, for example, drops the closed captioning signal.
Which sums up to : if you want closed captions, you’re now SOL if you’re not on an actual TV using standard def. Sure, there are exceptions like a few videos on Hulu.com and hi-def cable boxes which can directly decode the captions and send it part of the TV image, but for the most part, it’s very hard to get captions now, because the ADA was written with old technology in mind.
That’s not their catchphrase, it’s mine. They must have copied it.
Oh, and by the way…no Kool-Aid involved. Just, you know, using my brain the way it was intended to be used instead of something to keep my ears separated.
I’d ask him to beef up our education standards.
“Jamming it down our throats!” - the montage
Enjoy. Relevant portion starts @ 5:45.
Start from the basis that 24/7/365.25 there’s always some representative/lobbyist/staffer who want’s to shove whatever is their current ginger issue down his throat.
The OP might be the only time in history that any member of my family gets to within 100m of POTUS. So it’s more than a once-in-a-lifetime chance, but why would I want to waste that by being just another PIG (public interest group)?
I’d try to be a thoroughly decent dinner guest. How’s your day? How are the kids and their education? What do you think about recent scientific developments? Would a hiignorant furriner be better served getting news on US affairs from the Straight Dope message board rather than CBS/CNN/Fox? Chat about global/domestic politics, if he brought it up … and I bet he wouldn’t. Which was closer to reality, The West Wing or Yes Prime Minister? Over a vertical tasting of Californian versus Coonawarra reds debating whether the US would be more civilised if they played cricket. Who was the greater sportsman Babe Ruth or Don Bradman?
Be the sort of guest who get’s to be invited back a second time. Now that would be special.
“If I gave you free cheese, would you eat it?”
The things I’d like to talk with President Obama about are 1) His feelings about gay rights, specifically gays in the military and gay marriange 2) His religious beliefs and how they impact his life and his decisions; and 3) The impact that being biracial has on him and what he thinks will be the legacy of being the first black president.
These are the topics that interest me and I would enjoy discussing with him, without trying to push a particular agenda.
I’d ask him to be a better Washington DC neighbor. Does he have to to wear a White Sox hat when he throws out the first ball at a Nats game? Does he have to open up the Easter Egg Roll to the whole nation? it was our thing; let us have this.
Wow, what an honor! I’d be very grateful for dinner with the President, and would first thank him for inviting me. I’d say I knew and appreciated how hard he had been working to address the problems facing our country, and that I agreed with his plans for withdrawal from Iraq, a surge in Afghanistan, and was happy with what he’d done for healthcare reform, nuclear arms reduction and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.
If he asked me what he could be doing better, I’d say we need more stringent gun control, a vigorous manned space program, the repeal of DADT and a serious effort to root out fraud in government contracting and healthcare financing.
I’d suggest he posthumously award the Medal of Honor to this Civil War hero of mine, William B. Cushing - Wikipedia, and name a Navy warship after the ironclad USS Monitor, http://clevelandcivilwarroundtable.com/honor_the_monitor.htm.
I’d pledge my support for his reelection but hint that maybe Joe Biden shouldn’t be on the ticket again. He and his staff shouldn’t be doing Biden damage control every other week until 2017. Alternative options: Tim Kane, Kathleen Sibelius, or Dianne Feinstein.
And I’d close by wishing him good luck in choosing a new Supreme Court justice, only asking him to consider me someday for a U.S. District Court judgeship. 
It seemed far too rushed in the last ten minutes or so, but yes, it was worthwhile. I knew Peter Baker, the NYT correspondent featured, in college, and always like seeing him as a TV talking head.
Honest question: Do you really, honestly think that Barack Obama knows less about politics than you do? Seriously?
The man went from being nobody to being the goddamned President in less than a decade. He has some of the craftiest political advisors on the planet. Do you really think your advice would represent some sort of revelation to him?
It’s your chance to actually find out something about the man that isn’t political and you’re going to tell him something he already knows? Jesus Christ, the guy isn’t stupid, you know.
“Mr. President? Could you please pass the salt & pepper?”
“Could I get a refill on that beer?”
“Which way to the men’s room?”
“Could I get another refill on that beer?”
“So, the Sox, huh?”
“Could I get another beer?”
“Yup, I agree: damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”
“Any more beer in this joint?”
“Seconds?”
“Damn, this beer glass just won’t stay full.”
“Damn, Barry, quit hoggin’ the gravy boat!”
“I guess that’s a ‘no’ on the beer thing, then?”
The next day…
“Hey boss, I’m going to be a little late getting to work this morning. President Obama had the Secret Service take my car keys, and I’m in some place called ‘Gitmo’…”
Just showin’ my redneck…
Haven’t there already been about a dozen Navy ships named after the Monitor?
I’d tell him my 6 year old daughter said he should be on Mt. Rushmore.
Yeah but that gets into the whole taking responsibility for ones actions instead of blaming somebody else thing.
I would ask him if he ever thought how easy it would be for him to turn the Middle East into a sheet of glass. And if so, does it help him sleep better at night knowing that. 
I’d let him know there are people in this country opposed to many of his policies, but who are disgusted by the birthers & tea partiers, and who believe that he does have the best interests of the country at heart. Then I’d try all my daughters’ knock-knock jokes on Sasha till she lost composure & had to leave the table.
Please tell me you’d have some free cheese with you, just in case he said “Yes” .
I’d be polite, probably chitchat with him about our families, childhoods, etc. Then I’d probably tell him that he’s fucking up our relationship with Israel and he needs to knock it off.
The man made $5.5 million last year. He doesn’t need free cheese!