January 19, 2004: The Iowa Caucuses are held. On the Republican side, the incumbent, George W. Bush is unopposed.
On the Democratic side, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts wins 37 percent of the vote, Senator John Edwards of North Carolina 33, Governor Howard Dean of Vermont 17, and House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri 11.
Gephardt, who had surprisingly won Iowa in 1988, despite being nearly unknown outside the St. Louis area, was now the Democratic Leader in the House of Representatives, and was much-better known, and was certainly more qualified than in 1988. So he was counting on winning Iowa again. He didn't come close. He is finished as far as ever achieving the Presidency is concerned, and he knows it.
Dean had been doing very well in Iowa polls, and had big crowds at his rallies. But he had peaked too soon, and was finished -- at least, for this election cycle. Unlike Gephardt, however, he hadn't figured that out. So he gave his supporters a rousing speech, and... Well, like I said, he was already finished, but if he had done well on this night, this speech would have finished him.
The 55-year-old physician had served as Governor for 12 years -- and, since Vermont is the last State that still elects its Governors to 2-year terms, that's 6 elections. But Vermont has only about 650,000 people, fewer than several American cities, so it's not like his leadership was leadership of much. His populism made for a good message, but he was not the best of messengers. Never was that more evident than during this speech, at the Val-Air Ballroom in West Des Moines.
He had been endorsed by Iowa's most popular politician of the era, Senator Tom Harkin, but it didn't help. Harkin introduced Dean. Dean took off his jacket, handed it to Harkin, rolled up his shirt sleeves, and started his speech with "I'm sure there are some disappointed people here." But he motivated his supporters to keep fighting. That was understandable. But then he encouraged them in tones that were described as those that a professional wrestler would have given before a match, rattling off upcoming Primary States, counting them on his fingers:
And then he pumped his fist, and yelled what he probably thought was a "Yeah!" but sounded more like a karate sound: "Hyah!"
The next day, news networks CNN and MSNBC played it over and over again. January 19 had also been the national holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, whose "I Have a Dream" speech electrified the nation over 40 years earlier. Dean's speech became known as "I Have a Scream."
Dean was expected to do well in the New Hampshire Primary, given that Vermont is right next-door, so he was already fairly well-known there. He finished 2nd to Kerry, but a 3rd-place finish in Wisconsin forced him to wrap it up.
After clinching the nomination, Kerry saw to it that Dean was appointed Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. In 2006, he led an election victory that took back both houses of Congress. And he's been an occasional political panelist on MSNBC. But he's never run for President again.
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January 19, 2004 was a Monday. As I said, it was Martin Luther King Day, the 1st Monday after King's actual birthday, January 15.
Baseball was out of season. The NFL was between its Conference Championship Games and Super Bowl XXXVIII, which the New England Patriots would win over the Carolina Panthers.
There were 11 games in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks beat the Toronto Raptors, 90-79 at Madison Square Garden.
* The Seattle SuperSonics beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 90-81 at the Wachovia Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.
* The Washington Wizards beat the Chicago Bulls, 93-83 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.
* The Indiana Pacers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 100-97 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.
* The Orlando Magic beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 106-99 at the TD Waterhouse Center (formerly the Orlando Arena). Tracy McGrady led all scorers on the night with 34 points.
* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Houston Rockets, 88-83 at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis.
* The Detroit Pistons beat the San Antonio Spurs, 85-77 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.
* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the New Orleans Hornets, 97-90 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
* There was a doubleheader at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los A
ngeles. In a game that tipped off at 12:30 PM Pacific Time (3:30 Eastern), the Sacramento Kings beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 125-100. In a game that tipped off at 7:30 Pacific (10:30 Eastern), the Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 88-85.
* And the Golden State Warriors beat the Utah Jazz, 101-85 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena (then named The Arena in Oakland).
And there were 8 games in the NHL:
* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers lost to the Boston Bruins, 5-2 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.
* The New York Islanders beat the Ottawa Senators, 5-2 at the Nassau Coliseum.
* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-4 at the St. Pete Times Forum (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa. Milan Hejduk tied the game with 6:19 left in regulation, then won it 59 seconds into overtime.
* The St. Louis Blues beat the Florida Panthers, 2-1 at the Office Depot Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida. Pavol Demitra scored the winning goal, 48 seconds into overtime.
* The Nashville Predators beat the Minnesota Wild, 2-0 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Hasnville.
* The Calgary Flames beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 5-1 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center).
* The San Jose Sharks beat the Detroit Red Wings, 2-1 at the HP Pavilion (now the SAP Center) in San Jose.
* And the Dallas Stars beat the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.
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