Having a bit of trouble with this: =IF(D2<12/13/04, " ", A2).

Column D has dates (formatted mm/dd/yy). Dates are before and after
12/13/04 but the above statement always a blank and
=IF(D2 12/13/04, " ", A2) always returns the value in A.
If I put 12/13/04 in a cell (H2) and use =IF(D7<$H$2," ", A7), it works.
What did I do wrong in the first one?

Thanks.