MANCHESTER, N.H. - An announcer for World Wrestling Entertainment. A drugged animal. The subject of an exorcism.

And those are some the nicer things said about Howard Dean's "concession" speech after his disappointing third-place finish in the Iowa caucuses.

The political world tried to shift its attention to New Hampshire on Monday, but all the buzz centered on Dean's bizarre presentation.

"Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words," said an aide to a rival campaign. "And sometimes it's worth a thousand decibels."

Added a senior official from another campaign: "I was looking at my computer, but turned around to see who turned on WWE Smackdown - I was sure that was Vince McMahon's voice."

Dean appeared before chanting supporters in a 1950s-style ballroom after the devastating results were apparent late Monday. The fist-shaking, red-faced candidate - sleeves rolled up and face twisted in determination - gave a concert tour-like list of states where his insurgent campaign would rebound, noticeably including his rivals' homes.

"And then we're going to Washington, D.C., to take back the White House!" he shouted. Then, he ended with a guttural yell that news organizations could only interpret as, "Yeaaahhhhhhh!"

Steffen Schmidt, a political scientist at Iowa State University, said: "I was appalled. I thought, `This is just totally weird and inappropriate.'"

The footage was replayed countless times on news shows. At one point, CNN headlined its report "Dizzy Dean." Even ESPN was not immune - the network used Dean's tirade to set up a list of the "best" podium meltdowns by sports figures.

Asked about the speech by reporters in New Hampshire on Tuesday, Dean noted that his audience consisted of young people from across the country who had trekked to Iowa to help him.

"I thought I owed them the reasons that they came to the campaign, which was passion," he said.

But one analyst said Dean's shout-a-thon played into the hands of his critics.

Stuart Rothenberg, publisher of a Washington political newsletter, joked that he was waiting for the doctor's "head to explode."

"It was almost like a scene from The Exorcist, when Linda Blair's head spins around," Rothenberg said. "Howard Dean sounded possessed - and not possessed by sanity, either."