JOAN JETT: WITNESS TO HISTORY!

Remember the Howard Dean scream? Joan Jett was there!

Here's what she told Ellen Lefkowitz at Long Island Woman (March 2008):

I was a delegate and in Iowa and New Hampshire for a month campaigning for him when he still had the lead. It was incredibly disheartening to see that because a guy went "Whew Whew!" on a stage, it destroyed his qualifications to be president. I was on his plane with the campaign going from Iowa to New Hampshire after that speech was given with at least 100 people from the press. I can tell you that the speech was a non-issue: I know the press well, and if that scream had really been an issue, they would have been in my face asking, "Joan, what do you think about your candidate making a nut out of himself?" It was a non-story—until the following morning in New Hampshire when someone figured out [possibly from the other democratic campaign] how to make him look like a nut.

That speech was given in a college auditorium with over 2,000 college kids making their first foray into politics. They were very visceral, very emotional that Dean had just lost in Iowa. While congratulating the other campaign for their victory, and saying how the Democrats are going to take back the White House, the entire auditorium started chanting "Dean! Dean! Dean!" It was like a rock concert, and he did what any smart person would do—began showing his support to the thousands of people that were there supporting him. When they played it out on TV, however, they removed all of the sound, so people only heart the "scream." Nobody heard the college kids screaming or that he was responding to his supporters—you just heard his scream which made him sound like a nut.

Not one commentator thought to say, "Wait a minute. We're judging this man because he went 'Whew' on a stage? What about the fact that he balanced the budget or what his healthcare policies are for children under 18, or his stance on benefits for the elderly, or the fact that as governor he was able to work well with both Democrats and Republicans?" I am so disillusioned. To me, it's all show, and we don't really know what the reality is—although I am definitely going to vote. We'll just have to wait and see.

Here's Joan campaigning for Dean back in the day. Apparently this was part of an effort to fend off College Republicans trying to crash a Dean event in Iowa.



Source (00:36)