Behind the Scenes of Presidential Advance

By Betsy Rothstein on February 8, 2010 4:16 PM

WH.Gov brings us the blandest view possible of what it’s like to be part of a White House advance team. In this video, presidential advance woman Carrie Devine takes us to the exciting metropolis of Elyria, Ohio to prepare for a presidential “Main Street” trip.

Hang on tight.

“It’s funny all the things you notice when you doing advance work, Devine says. “Bike rack. VFW Post. Museums.”

The most exciting part is when she lays down the law: “Just keep it as quiet as you can. Don’t talk to the press about it,” Devine says, warning an employee at an Elyria Manufacturing Corp. to not dish on the event before she gives the word. She does this a stern ‘I’ll injure you’ look in her eyes.

Even the advance team seems utterly bored by what they’re doing, as evidenced by a meeting in which a guy’s head bobs repeatedly and a young woman profoundly slouches all over the table.

Nothing against Devine — she seems like an amiable, hard-working woman. But this video needs to be shelved for a day when you’ve watched absolutely everything else there is to watch, including “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes” and “Glitter”. And even then you might want to prepare yourself by taking a long nap before you watch it.

“I think some people think the life of an advance team is glamorous, but it’s a bit of a grind,” says Devine.