Howard Dean Scream (2004)

About

Howard Dean Scream (a.k.a I Have A Scream speech) refers to the primal war cry made by a red-faced Howard Dean (D) at a post-caucus rally in 2004. Dubbed the “I Have A Scream” speech, Dean’s emotional outburst of self-enthusiasm became internet remix fodder in January 2004. On YouTube, there are onomatopoeic references to Dean’s scream as well, including “BYAH!” and “YEARGH!”.

Dean’s Presidential Campaign 2004

Dean’s campaign suffered a staggering blow when a last-minute surge by rivals John Kerry and John Edwards led to a disappointing third-place finish for Dean in the 2004 Iowa Democratic caucuses, representing the first votes cast in primary season.

Speech in West Des Moines, Iowa

Dean, who had been suffering with a severe bout of the flu for several days, attended a post-caucus rally for his volunteers at the Val-Air Ballroom in West Des Moines, Iowa and delivered his concession speech, aimed at cheering up those in attendance. Dean was shouting over the cheers of his enthusiastic audience, but the crowd noise was being filtered out by his unidirectional microphone, leaving only his full-throated exhortations audible to the television viewers. To those at home, he seemed to raise his voice out of sheer emotion. Additionally, Dean began his speech with a flushed-red face, clenching his teeth as he rolled up his sleeves.

Audience Reception

According to a Newsday Editorial written by Verne Gay, some members of the television audience criticized the speech as loud, peculiar, and unpresidential. In particular, this quote from the speech was aired repeatedly in the days following the caucus:

Not only are we going to New Hampshire, Tom Harkin, we’re going to South Carolina and Oklahoma and Arizona and North Dakota and New Mexico, and we’re going to California and Texas and New York … And we’re going to South Dakota and Oregon and Washington and Michigan, and then we’re going to Washington, D.C., to take back the White House! Yeah!!!

Spoofs & Remixes

Spoofs and remixes followed both online and in mainstream media, including Dave Chappelle. Most remixes were in the form of audio – e.g. Music mash-ups with techno/electronica, AC/DC songs, Ozzy Osborne’s “Crazy Train”, etc.

Howard Dean’s BYAH in reverse:

BYAH! The Howard Dean Story – Remix by Douchebag

Crank That – BYAH! edition: