The Howard Dean scream incident, commonly known as the Dean scream or I Have a Scream speech, was an energetic scream by Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont, on January 19, 2004, during a speech he gave at the Val-Air Ballroom in West Des Moines, Iowa. That night, the presidential candidate had just lost the Iowa caucus to John Kerry and wanted to reassure his supporters. He listed states he would win to a raucous audience before screaming "YEAH!". Within four days, it was broadcast 633 times on national news networks and cable channels.
Following the scream, Dean lost more primaries and suspended his campaign following his third-place result in Wisconsin. Some commentators have described the speech as a political gaffe that destroyed Dean's campaign; however, Dean and his campaign staff have claimed that he would have lost anyway, due to poor campaign organization. Additionally, Christine Pelosi, Pacific Standard, and historian Robert Thompson have all claimed that Dean's probability of being nominated was already low due to a lack of party insider support, the Iowa loss, and the media's previous painting of Dean as too hot-tempered for the presidency.
2004 presidential election and Iowa caucus
Vermont governor Howard Dean's 2003–04 presidential campaign began as a huge success in its first several months, garnering popularity from the press and American citizens for his left-leaning populism and anti-Iraq War beliefs; as of fall 2003, he was number one in almost every poll throughout the United States, including those in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Media coverage
Dean, campaign staff, and members of the press who were at the ballroom left with the impression of it being an ordinary rally. National network and cable channels aired the clip 633 times within four days and the media named it the "Dean scream" and "I Have a Scream", given that the speech was presented on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In addition to the decreased background noise, the network playings of the scream also rejected shots of the crowd screaming, the main reason Dean was being loud.
In terms of exposure on talk shows, Jay Leno responded, "Did you see Dean's speech last night? Oh my God! Now I hear the cows in Iowa are afraid of getting mad Dean disease. It's always a bad sign when at the end of your speech, your aide is shooting you with a tranquilizer gun;" and David Letterman joked, "Here's what happened: The people of Iowa realized they didn't want a president with the personality of a hockey dad."
Impact on Dean's campaign
Dean and the campaign staff were upset and concerned about the scream's media exposure and its possible negative impacts on the campaign; Albright-Hanna recalled a CNN reporter of Dean's campaign stating that one of Dean's staffers wanted to walk into the network headquarters and set himself on fire with gasoline. Trippi suggested that even if Dean acted more controlled at the rally, "I'm not sure it would've mattered." Historian David Eisenbach said that although the scream contributed to Dean's loss, it would not have done so without the media's previous "crazy-person" portrayal of Dean. Media scholar Robert Thompson suggested that the scream would have worked for Dean far better if he campaigned in 2016.
Although Dean supporters argued he was not aware of how the microphone's sensitivity gave a false impression of his tone, Salzman and political scientist Samuel L. Popkin held Dean accountable for not understanding the system of presidential races; Popkin states he only spoke to those in the room and not to a nationwide television audience that was previously unaware of him, Dean himself reenacted the scream on May 14, 2015, at the New Jersey Democratic State Committee, listing states that Governor Chris Christie would not win if he ran for president. Dean paraphrased the ending to his scream speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
NBC News, in 2019, reported that "even years later, people turned the 'scream' into dance remixes, YouTube performances and famous comedy skits."