A tour on the rapid-fire campaign e-mail cycle

WASHINGTON — They have become as ubiquitous as e-mails offering to make your mortgage smaller or your manhood bigger.

The McCain-Obama debate you watched Friday and the Palin-Biden debate you will watch Thursday are merely the tip of an all-day, every-day debate raging into journalists' inboxes.

A recent day's e-mails totaled more than 35,000 words covering 50 printed pages in 10-point type.

The 24-hour news cycle has yielded to a minute-by-minute news cycle prompting campaigns to act and react and re-react throughout the day.

"What we are seeing is an instant news cycle with crawls on the bottom of cable news shows and Facebook pages and RSS feeds and all kinds of things where there are instant communications," said Benjamin Bates, an Ohio University communications professor. "So now every candidate feels they have to respond on an instantaneous news cycle."

It's a good thing, Bates said, because "we have more facts and evidence on which to base our choices."

It's a bad thing, Bates said, because "if you get too much information, you become overwhelmed."

Good thing? Bad thing? You be the judge. Here's a compressed look at highlights of a typical day's e-mail traffic from the campaigns and related entities in the era of rapid thrust and rapid parry:

3:02 a.m.

The McCain campaign offers an "In Case You Missed It" in case you missed the Pueblo (Colorado) Chieftain's endorsement of McCain-Palin.

6:08 a.m.

From Obama-Biden HQ in Chicago, announcement of a TV ad criticizing McCain's call for deregulation of the health insurance industry.

6:33 a.m.

Democratic National Committee's Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza, reigning queen of the inbox, sends a reference to a New York Times story headlined "Loan Titans Paid McCain Adviser Nearly $2 Million"

6:36 a.m.

Buckwalter-Poza (who says her goal is to start sending e-mails around 6 a.m. "rain or shine" and "some days I do send earlier.") points to a Washington Post story headlined "Steering the McCain Campaign, a Lot of Old Bush Hands"

6:38 a.m.

Obama campaign announces 10 a.m. conference call re: National Association of Police Organizations endorsement.

6:42 a.m.

DNC's Buckwalter-Poza notes Washington Post editorial headlined "Hiding in Plain Sight. Why is Sarah Palin granting so few interviews?"

6:44 a.m.

More from Buckwalter-Poza, this time a Washington Post note that McCain owns 13 cars "and not all American."

6:50 a.m.

McCain HQ announces "Chicago Machine" ad linking Obama to all things evil about Chicago politics.

7:58 a.m.

Obama campaign previews his day, including speech on "his plan to reform the greed and excesses of Washington so that we never face an economic crisis like this again." Included in e-mail, some "must reads." (the previously noted Washington Post "old Bush hands" story and the New York Times "loan titans" story).

8:41 a.m.

From McCain HQ: Senior Adviser Steve Schmidt and Campaign Manager Rick Davis will discuss the "Chicago Machine" ad in a 9:30 a.m. conference call.

9:08 a.m.

DNC's Damien LaVera says "ahead of this morning's conference call with Rick Davis, wanted to flag today's NY Times story about Davis being paid (by the) loan titans."

9:11 a.m.

Obama campaign refers to Bloomberg columnist Al Hunt's piece headlined "Obama, Not McCain, Shows Steady Hand in Crisis."

9:14 a.m.

Obama campaign says McCain's "Chicago Machine" ad is "false." Truth, it says, is that Obama "took on the Chicago Democratic organization." E-mail slips in another reference to McCain Campaign Manager Davis and the "loan titans."

9:33 a.m.

McCain campaign postpones the Davis conference call until 11:45 a.m.

10:32 a.m.

"McCain and Palin to talk to Media today," says an e-mail seeming to announce a long-awaited event. But this is from DNC's LaVera, having fun with the fact that McCain and Palin, who have been avoiding reporters' questions, are in Media, Pa.

10:49 a.m.

Obama aides reiterate their ma's intention to "unveil plan to reform the greed and excesses of Washington."

11:02 a.m.

Another conference call announcement, this one with Kansas' Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sibelius to discuss Obama ad slamming McCain for health insurance industry dereg.

11:54 a.m.

Obama campaign notes McCain comment that economic adviser Carly Fiorina's "$40 million-plus golden parachute" from Hewlett-Packard was not part of the nation's economic woes.

12:03 p.m.

Obama campaign notes news coverage of his speech on federal spending.

12:39 p.m.

Obama campaign touts news coverage of conference call re: National Association of Police Organizations endorsement.

12:40 p.m.

DNC's Buckwalter-Poza offers story highlighting McCain's "lack of awareness" about Fiorina's golden parachute.

12:41 p.m.

Obama spokesman raps McCain aide Schmidt's "Where is the outrage?" comment during a "conference call with reporters just now." Sounds like Bob Dole in 1996, says Obama's Bill Burton.

12:47 p.m.

Obama campaign e-mails Obama speech entitled "The Change We Need in Washington."

12:58 p.m.

A McCain campaign conference call announcement. 3:30 p.m. with ex-Sens. John Danforth and Warren Rudman. Topic: "Voter fraud — and the McCain-Palin 2008 Honest and Open Election Committee."

1:35 p.m.

DNC notes news account of McCain's uncertainty about Fiorina's golden parachute.

1:44 p.m.

"In Case You Missed It" from McCain HQ: Citizens Against Government Waste fact checks Obama's record on federal spending.

1:54 p.m.

From Obama HQ, Seattle Times endorses Democratic ticket.

2:40 p.m.

Obama side refers to CNN story saying McCain misled folks at a town hall meeting when he said Obama has no plan for the financial crisis.

3:09 p.m.

DNC offers up "Count the Lies #63." See 2:40 p.m.

3:09 p.m.

Obama campaign denounces "the McCain campaign's laughable screed about coverage in the NY Times." Lists the 40 in-depth stories the paper has done about Obama, including one headlined "Obama Had Slaveowning Kin."

3:43 p.m.

Hillary Clinton's press office notes radio bit encouraging supporters to sign up for "Hillary Sent Me" effort to get her backers to vote for Obama.

4:04 p.m.

DNC's Buckwalter-Poza is back with e-mail pointing to Huffington Post reference to McCain surrogate disagreeing with his call for the firing of SEC Chairman Christopher Cox.

4:06 p.m.

From McCain HQ, a 4,000-word deconstruction of Obama's Green Bay speech on reforming Washington.

4:38 p.m.

Republican National Committee offers an In Case You Missed It to note article headlined "How the Democrats Created the Financial Crisis."

4:39 p.m.

From Obama HQ: "McCain campaign caught lying while whining." Points to Politico account of the day's Schmidt-Davis conference call.

5:45 p.m.

More from Obama HQ about McCain's complaints about the New York Times. Refers to Huffington Post note that McCain's team sent 60 e-mails referring to positive Times stories about McCain. "McCain was for the NYT before he was against it," says the Obama campaign.

6:33 p.m.

From ex-candidate Clinton: "Must Watch: Hillary Clinton Discusses Solutions to Economic Crisis in Interviews Today."

6:47 p.m.

From McCain HQ, "Obama Praises John McCain's Record of Reform." E-mail notes Obama's attacks on McCain in the day's Green Bay speech and contrasts that with Obama comment from two years ago: "There is one person who's been consistent on reform issues, and that's been John McCain."

8:13 p.m.

A McCain In Case You Missed It noting Biden's criticism of his campaign's ad chiding McCain's lack of computer skills. "I thought that was terrible," Biden told CBS' Katie Couric.

8:50 p.m.

DNC's LaVera takes another shot at the Media joke (see 10:32 a.m.). He refers to ABC News story about her appearance in Media, Pa.

9:19 p.m.

Thirteen hours after her first e-mail, DNC's Buckwalter-Poza ends her day with a reference to McCain's ties to the Keating Five savings-and-loan scandal.

9:42 p.m.

Hillary Clinton's folks want reporters to know about her next-day appearances on morning shows to talk economics.

10:21 p.m. (See 8:13 p.m.)

From Obama HQ, a Biden statement about the ad chiding McCain's computer skills. "Having now reviewed the ad, it is even more clear to me that given the disgraceful tenor of Senator McCain's ads and their persistent falsehoods, his campaign is in no position to criticize."

11:21 p.m.

Obama campaign highlights Reno Gazette-Journal story headlined "Democrats Close Gap with GOP in Washoe County."