Health care

A former medical doctor, Dean called for comprehensive universal health care in the US. He proposed an annual $88 billion on health care programs in the nation as well as wanting tax credits to help workers of moderate income buy "affordable" coverage similar to that offered to federal employees, with extra insurance subsidies for companies employing less than 50 people. He also proposed spending nearly $1 trillion over 10 years on health insurance. He even stressed the need for expanding state health care programs for children throughout his campaign.^[8]

Education

Dean opposed using taxpayer-financed vouchers for tuition at parochial or other private schools, and promised to rework federal annual testing in grades 3 through 8 while allowing for more state and local control. He also guaranteed that people would not have to pay more than 10% of their income toward loans after post-secondary graduation as he would provide $10,000 a year in federal aid for university or high-skills learning.^[9]

Economy and taxes

Dean proposed a radically different tax plan than President Bush's which would repeal all of the Bush tax cuts and replace them with tax cuts on the middle class. Throughout his campaign, he stressed the need for lowering taxes on the middle class while raising them on the upper class. He also promised to renegotiate components of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and other free trade agreements with foreign powers, and to "put the U.S. on a path to a balanced budget". However, he never specifically stated any deficit reduction proposals other than repealing the Bush tax cuts.^[10]

Foreign policy

With the guidance of his chief foreign policy advisor, Danny Sebright, Dean made the war in Iraq a pillar of his campaign.^[11] He proposed to transfer sovereignty to "credible and legitimate" Iraqi leaders and "encourage the United Nations to take responsibility for this political transition." He also expressed strong support for the War in Afghanistan, saying "One priority should be strengthening our bonds with other countries, especially our historical allies in a world growing ever more interdependent."

Dean would even open talks with North Korea, triple American financing to $30 billion over 10 years to combat unconventional weapons around the world and approve the use of force to halt genocide.^[12]

Iowa and the "Dean scream"

Polling throughout the primary campaign consistently showed Dean either in first place, or second behind Dick Gephardt. However, last minute surges by rivals John Kerry and John Edwards as well as negative campaigning between the Dean and Gephardt campaigns resulted in an 11th hour slump for both campaigns. In a poll released by the Des Moines Register just before Caucus Day, Dean registered in third place with 20%, behind Kerry with 26%, and Edwards with 23%, but ahead of Dick Gephardt with 18%.^[18] Throughout Caucus night, Dean was in a fight with Gephardt for third place in Iowa behind Kerry and Edwards. With 100% of precincts reporting, Kerry received 38%, Edwards received 32%, and Dean came in third with 18% while Gephardt finished in fourth with just 11% of caucus support.

On January 19, 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. Dean's public address that night was widely rebroadcast and portrayed as a media gaffe that ended his campaign.

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.^[19]

According to a Newsday editorial written by Verne Gay, some members of the television audience criticized the speech as loud, peculiar, and unpresidential.^[20] 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!^[21]

Senator Harkin was on stage with Dean, holding his suit jacket. This final "Yeah!" with its unusual tone that Dean later said was due to the cracking of his hoarse voice,^[22] has become known in American political jargon as the "Dean Scream" or the "I Have A Scream" speech.^[22][23] Comedians and late-night comedy show hosts such as Dave Chappelle and Conan O'Brien satirized, mocked, and popularized the sound bite,^[24][25] beginning a media onslaught that many believe contributed immensely to his poor showing in the subsequent races.^[26]

Dean conceded that the speech did not project the best image, jokingly referring to it as a "crazy, red-faced rant" on the Late Show with David Letterman. In an interview later that week with Diane Sawyer, he said he was "a little sheepish ... but I'm not apologetic."^[27] Sawyer and many others in the national broadcast news media later expressed some regret about overplaying the story.^[19] In fact, CNN issued a public apology and admitted in a statement that they indeed may have "overplayed" the incident. The incessant replaying of the "Dean Scream" by the press became a debate on the topic of whether Dean was the victim of media bias. The scream scene was shown an estimated 633 times by cable and broadcast news networks in just four days following the incident, a number that does not include talk shows and local news broadcasts.^[28] However, those who were in the actual audience that day insist that they were not aware of the infamous "scream" until they returned to their hotel rooms and saw it on TV.^[19] Dean said after the general election in 2004 that his microphone only picked up his voice and did not also capture the loud cheering he received from the audience as a result of the speech. On January 27 Dean finished second to Kerry in the New Hampshire primary. As late as one week before the first votes were cast in Iowa's caucuses, Dean had enjoyed a 30% lead in New Hampshire opinion polls;^{[citation needed]} accordingly, this loss represented another major setback to his campaign.

New Hampshire

After both Kerry and Edwards defeated Howard Dean in the Iowa Caucuses, the Dean campaign retreated to New Hampshire, where polls consistently showed them in the lead, and where Dean hoped for a comeback by defeating Senator Kerry who came from neighboring Massachusetts.

Polling after the Iowa Caucuses consistently showed Governor Dean behind Senator Kerry by a wide margin in the run up to the New Hampshire Primary. A poll released from Franklin Pierce College showed Kerry leading by as much as 30%–16%. However, after a substantial effort by Dean on the campaign trail, the final poll conducted by Marist College showed Kerry leading 36%–27%.

However, despite signs showing a Dean surge, Howard Dean lost to John Kerry in the New Hampshire primary 38%–26% which set the tone for future defeats at the hands of Kerry and others.

Iowa and New Hampshire were the first in a string of losses for the Dean campaign, culminating in a third place showing in the Wisconsin primary on February 17. Two days before the Wisconsin primary, campaign advisor Steve Grossman announced through an article written by The New York Times Dean campaign correspondent Jodi Wilgoren that he would offer his services to any of the other major candidates "should Dean not win in Wisconsin." This scoop further undermined Dean's campaign. Grossman later issued a public apology. The next day, Dean announced that his candidacy had "come to an end", though he continued to urge people to vote for him, so that Dean delegates would be selected for the convention and could influence the party platform. He later won the Vermont primary on Super Tuesday, March 2. This latter victory, a surprise even to Dean, was due in part to the lack of a serious anti-Kerry candidate in Vermont (John Edwards had declined to put his name on the state's ballot, expecting Dean to win in a landslide), and in part to a television ad produced, funded, and aired in Vermont by grassroots Dean supporters.

Wisconsin

After grueling losses to John Kerry in New Hampshire, Michigan, Washington as well as other states, Howard Dean staked his entire campaign on favorable showings in the Wisconsin primary scheduled to take place on February 17, 2004 ^[29]

Following results in 7 Nominating Contests on February 3, 2004, Governor Dean re-organized his strategy, focusing on the Wisconsin primary as a way to upset front runner John Kerry. Dean canceled events throughout Michigan to be able to focus on Wisconsin as well as increasing staff members within Wisconsin. Dean also made a pledge (which he would later retract) that Wisconsin was a "must win" state for him in a fund raising e-mail to supporters.^[30] Despite being far behind Kerry in delegates and in popular vote, Dean stressed that Wisconsin could "turn around" the fate of his campaign. Dean also implied that it would give him momentum to win in Super Tuesday nominating contests.^[31]

As results were beginning to pour in, major news agencies were quick in projecting Governor Dean as coming in third in Wisconsin based on Exit Polling data alone.^[32] Final results from Wisconsin showed John Kerry winning with 40% of the vote followed by John Edwards with 34% and Howard Dean coming in third with 18%. As a result of poor contests Dean exited the race the next morning.

Vermont

The 2004 Vermont Democratic Primary was held on March 2, 2004 the same day as 9 other states including California, New York, and Georgia, a day dubbed "Super Tuesday" for its massive amount of primaries and caucuses held on a particular Tuesday. One of these contests was in Vermont, where Dean had been governor.

Polls closed in Vermont at 7:00 EST along with polls in the state of Georgia. Based on exit polls, CNN projected Howard Dean the winner there.^[33]

Much of the reason for Dean's success in his home state of Vermont without campaigning was largely due to the fact that John Edwards was not on the ballot in the state. In January, when Howard Dean was still considered the front-runner, Edwards and several other candidates — Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, Al Sharpton and Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut — decided not to file to get on the primary ballot in Dean's home state.^[34] The final results for the Vermont primary were Dean with 58%, Kerry with 34% and Kucinich with 4% ^[35]

Key Results

  Dean won the nominating contest (Vermont)

  Dean came in either second or third in the nominating Contest (Iowa, New Hampshire, Arizona, Missouri, New Mexico, North Dakota, Michigan, Washington, Maine, and Wisconsin)

  Dean came in 4th or lower in the nominating contest (Delaware, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia)

Endorsement

Dean endorsed presumptive nominee Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts on March 25, 2004 at a rally at George Washington University.^[38] Dean, who was one of the favored candidates among young voters, was enthusiastically received by the crowd of college students.^[39]

There had been some speculation that Howard Dean would endorse John Edwards before the Super Tuesday nominating contests on March 2, as Edwards's political stances were more in line with Dean's.^[40] However, Dean did not comment on the Presidential field before Super Tuesday, when John Edwards dropped out of the race after failing to win a single contest.