Also posted at MichaelWhitney.net

John McCain's online team needs to find someone who knows what they're doing with the campaign's email list. Campaign manager Rick Davis sent an email to supporters this afternoon titled "Reckless" - clocking in at 597 words - without including a single link until the 580th word.

Patrick Ruffini noted last week that McCain's emails read like "Tolstoy in my inbox." Rick Davis continues the proud literary trend. Look at this mammoth message:

Forget the content, even forget the length. One link? In the last sentence? What is McCain's campaign thinking?

My guess: it seems like there's too many cooks in McCain's email kitchen. McCain's online team needs to assert itself within the campaign and put the brakes on the email insanity. There's a reason their email messages aren't bringing in more money. To start, try shrinking the ratio of words to links in the next email, and then make a relevant ask.

Emails don't have to be short to be effective - but at least try to engage your readers. A link in the first 500 words would do just fine.