presidential blunders

One of the biggest gaffes by a presidential candidate (and still the funniest) occurred on January 19, 2004, when former Vermont governor Howard Dean suffered a disappointing third place finish in the Iowa Caucus. Dean had been leading the polls heading into Iowa, but his high expectations were dashed when the Johns (Kerry and Edwards) finished ahead of him. Dean gave his concession speech at the Val-Air Ballroom in West Des Moines where, in rolled up shirt sleeves, he gave what is now known as his impassioned I Have a Scream speech. "You know, I was about to say, I'm sure there are some disappointed people here. You know what? You know something? You know something? If you had told us one year ago that we were gonna come in third in Iowa we would have given anything for that. And you know something? You know something? 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 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! YAAAAAAAA!" Dean, whose candidacy was never the same, went on to become chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He is now a CNBC contributor.