The impact of the ‘Dean Scream’ 20 years later

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Monday’s caucuses in Iowa are the first official contest for candidates vying for the nation’s highest office. It also marks 20 years since former Governor Howard Dean saw his front-running campaign for the Democratic nomination come crashing down after his third place in the Hawkeye State.

The Iowa caucuses mark the first major step of the 2024 presidential contest. Former President Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, and Ron Desantis are the frontrunners vying for votes in the Republican race.

“Iowa does more to hurt people than help people,” said former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who was a front-runner for the Democratic nomination in the months leading up to the primaries in 2004.

Only three people have won contested caucuses and gone on to win the U.S. presidency. Dean says Iowa is a test for who can exceed expectations, and who will have a strong second or third-place finish heading into the New Hampshire primaries. “It does show organizational ability in presidential campaigns, more so than broad electoral campaigns where you have people coming out anyway,” Dean said.

After finishing third in Iowa, Dean gave a memorable speech to rally supporters ahead of New Hampshire that even before social media, quickly became known as the “Dean Scream.” The clip was played countless times on cable news outlets.

Dean says he was already dropping in the polls before Iowa. “Everyone talks about the scream speech — which was a lot of fun — but the reason we lost was nothing because of the scream speech, that was after the fact. We lost because we were out-organized by John Kerry. That’s the name of the game — is organization,” Dean said.

The speech was dubbed by many as a political gaffe but pales in comparison with some of the behavior of candidates in today’s political atmosphere that can actually draw voter support.

Bert Johnson, a political science professor at Middlebury College, says the tone of candidates resonates more today than the message and that party affiliation has become an identity.

“If candidates are appealing to identity instead of appealing to people on the basis of this or that issue, it makes it less important exactly what they say and more important on how they say it,” he said.

After Iowa, attention will turn to the New Hampshire primary next Tuesday.

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