Patrick Ruffini :: John McCain: Tolstoy in My Inbox

Patrick illustrates a point that GOP campaigns consistently refuse to get, time and again: email is not direct mail, and familiarity is more effective than stirring prose. As Patrick points out, the average online reader takes in only 20% of the content of the average email, so if your content isn't easily scanned, chances are your efforts are for naught. Especially when your 1,000 word missive hits my inbox at 5:30pm on a Friday.