Back in 1998, Jesse Ventura pulled off an upset win in Minnesota to become that state's 38th governor.
He did it in a state which roughly resembles Iowa demographically.
He did it by bringing out record numbers of young and independent voters; nearly one in eight voters said they wouldn't have bothered to vote at all if Jesse wasn't on the ballot.
He did it by running as a hot-headed throw-the-bums-out reformer, who was a radical liberal/libertarian on many social issues (albeit he was more Schwarzenegger-esque on fiscal matters).
Will Dean turn out to have some of Ventura's magic syrup?
To be sure, Jesse was a much more flamboyant character, and had much better name recognition (he certainly had better tv ads).
And going through with the rigamarole of a caucus requires more commitment than simply showing up at the polls and casting a vote.
Still, both Dean's persona and his campaign strike me as somewhat Ventura-esque.
If Dean pulls off a larger-than-expected victory Monday, one might blame that magic syrup...