The "Dean Scream"
September 2, 2025
On January 19, 2004, if you felt a disturbance in the Force, it was none other than Howard Dean. Yes, that Howard Dean.
Howard Dean had just finished third in the Iowa caucuses. But, before we get to that, who was Howard Dean?
The Man Before the Meme
Before Howard went reaching for the brass ring (tarnished and rusty as it may be), he was a practicing physician in Vermont. When he was examining a patient, he heard that Richard A. Snelling, governor of Vermont, had died, and it was the event that pushed him into the governor’s office. I just wonder what ever happened to that patient.
He was governor of Vermont of 12 years, and he developed a reputation as a fiscal conservativbe who balanced its budget eleven times, raised its bond raiting, and lowered income taxes twice. Honestly, that’s impressive, and that’s a lot of syrup.
Dean adopted the concept of grassroots organizing and fundraising early, to include the internet, which allowed him to reach college-age voters that was funded, in large measure, through small donations over the internet. His campaign was a trailblazer, and he relied on online forums and a passionate volunteer base that allowed him to raise more money than any of his opponents early on.
The Event
Howard Dean addressed an energetic crows of supporters at a rally on January 19, 2004. He aimed to rally their spirits and project confidencee, like a peacock disaplaying its feathers. In a passionate voice, Dean rattled off a list of states he planned to contest. CBS News reported that the crowd was so enthusiastic that you almost could not hear becuase of the people yelling and screaming.
As Dean rambled off the list of states that he planed to contest, he ended with the now-infamous holler, “Yeeaaaahhh!” His voice cracked on that final “Yeah,” which turned the word into a bizarre yelp.
But while the room was loud, the unidirectional microphone isolated Dean’s eyll from the defening cheers of the crowd.
The Media and Public Fallout
The media, because pre-Trump, broadcast that clip of the holler relentlessly. It was broadcast over 600 times on national news networks and cable television wtihin four days.
The amount of times is egregious, but what is even moreso is that the media framed the clip as a sign of instability and a “meltdown,” which depicted Howard Dean adn hot-headed and erratic. He wasn’t meant for the presidency. Surely not with his scream.
CBS News highlighted this in an article, stating “The Iowa speech has become a problem because Dean’s aides either fialted to recognize or failed to convince their candidate that when he speaks to a roomful of people, he’s not speaking to a roomful of people: he is speaking to a television camera.”
It was a real, “Debate with Nixon sweating out of his suit” moment. You know the one…
The clip was shared all across the internet, and was parodied online. It’s hard to imagine for 2004, but hey, Ebaumsworld was a thing still. Needless to say, but I will anyways, he beame one of the first political gaffes to go “viral” in the modern sense. NBC News noted on the 15th anniversary of the event, “It showed everyone that a powerful moment could derail the biggest ambitions, and it gave birth to the political meme.
Thanks, Dean.
That repeated public exposure created a negative impression with voters, overshadowing his policy positions and grassroots momentum.
Downfall (No, not that One)
The scream killed the campaign’s momentum leading into the New Hampshire primary, where he was actually expected to perform well. A Brookings Institution article points out that the relentless media coverage “truly brought on his downfall as the front-runner.”
Instead of discussing his platform or his under-the-radar organizational prowess, the media and his opponents focused solely on his perceived unsuitability for office. What was, in the room, a moment of defiant rallying became, through media repetition, the definitive image that validated the pre-existing media narrative about his temperament.
Looking Back that the Absurdity of it All
By today’s standards, the “Dean Scream” seems laughable. As one YouTube video notes when comparing it to today’s political atmosphere (smog-filled as it is), “voters at tiems now reward candidates for what was once considered to be a political blunder.” It’s incredible that this… THIS was what took Howard Dean out of the race.
Contemporary political rhetoric is toxic, negative, and is often characterized by insults, theatrical outbursts, and inflammatory comments that would have been campaign-ending in 2004 (cue, “I could murder someone in the streets” line from Trump).
The “scream” was a moment of pure, concentrated enthusiasm, but it destroyed a campaign. This stands in contrast to the landscape where a candidate like DJT, unfiltered and unconventional (to say the very least) is often rewarded and becomes a core part of their brand.
The rules of political communication and public perception have changed in two decades, multiple times, and I think it’s time that the Democrats moved along as well.