Cover Story: Political Direct Marketing 2004

“Our 6 million-name e-mail list is 100 percent organic, contrary to some assertions that we have engaged in [renting] names,” Turk says. “These are people who have expressed an interest in the president’s agenda, either through our Web site or the Republican National Committee Web site.”

But despite a 6-to-1 edge over Kerry in online members, the Bush campaign witnessed less online traffic from February through June in all but one month of tracking, according to Internet-audience analysts Nielsen//NetRatings. The John Kerry for President Web site attracted 1.7 million unique visitors during the month of February, while the Bush-Cheney ‘04 Web site drew only 865,000. Over the following few months, John Kerry continued to attract more unique visitors, with his highest edge being in May when he pulled 1.8 million to GeorgeWBush.com’s 1.2 million. But in June, Bush fetched more than 2.2 million visitors to Kerry’s 1.2 million.