Obama, Biden stand-ins practice for inauguration....The Obama stand in met him

Obama, Biden stand-ins practice for inauguration

By RACHEL KIPP • The News Journal • January 11, 2009


WASHINGTON -- Army Staff Sgt. Derrick Brooks isn't Barack Obama. But the 26-year-old North Carolina native got a taste of life as the president-elect today when he stood-in for Obama in a dress rehearsal for Inauguration Day.

Volunteers from the military who fit the approximate height, weight and build of Obama, vice-president elect Joe Biden and their families were at the U.S. Capitol before sunrise to help government officials figure out the logistics of the swearing-in ceremony scheduled for noon Jan. 20.

Brooks and the other stand-ins -- including two young girls, the daughters of military members, who stood in for Malia and Sasha Obama -- wore white placards around their necks noting what role they were playing. The U.S. Marine Band played a series of marches -- including "Hail to the Chief" -- and herald trumpeters created a fanfare as actor stepped out onto the Capitol balcony.

Brooks as Obama and Army Spc. Nicholas Rupple -- the stand-in for Biden -- came front and center to take the oath of office. Brooks, who is based with a military intelligence unit in Fort Meade, Md., then offered a succinct version of an inauguration speech: "My fellow Americans. God Bless America," he said into a microphone.

A veteran of tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Brooks got to meet Obama last week.

"He said my ears aren't as big as his," said Brooks, who is 6'2 and 185 pounds. Stand-ins must have similar builds and be the same ethnicity as their counterparts so cameras taping the event can find position.

Rupple, 24, isn't sure if he has anything in common with Biden besides physical characteristics. But he enjoyed standing in the vice-president elect's shoes and taking in sweeping views of Washington D.C. from the Capitol building.

"The view, first of all, is just amazing," said Rupple, a Fairfax, Va. native also based at Fort Meade. "I can't really find words to explain. It's something I'll be able to remember and tell my children about when they're older."

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090111/NEWS/90111009


Very cool. These guys will never forget this.

actually meet the President.

no idea he was standing in for the beginning of the worse presidency ever!

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I've never been to an Inauguration, but I remember being at the Capitol and knowing that the West lawn was where the ceremony was held. I turned to face Constituation and Pennsylvania Avenues and imagined all the people. All those pretend people were pretty impressive. lol