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Story highlights Rand Paul has avoided the spotlight on the presidential trail this summer Paul has campaigned in more than 10 states in recent months

Instead of dominating national headlines this summer by picking fights with high-profile competitors or scrambling to secure the best real estate at every Republican Party cattle call, Rand Paul has been working the campaign trail quietly, taking a deliberate approach to national media and choosing his battles carefully.

While Donald Trump has sucked up much of the media's gaze, the Kentucky senator's recent efforts have not stood out like they once did.

It's not because he stopped campaigning. In fact, Paul has spent the summer traveling to California, Nevada, New Hampshire, Iowa, Colorado, Michigan, Texas, Missouri, Maryland, Kentucky and Tennessee. Over the next 10 days, he will hit the big three early voting states of New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina.

In that time, Paul has also reacted to major news events: He called for cutting off funds for Planned Parenthood and from cities that harbor undocumented immigrants. He made a renewed push to increased scrutiny on migrants from nations with hotbeds of Islamic militancy. But faced with so much competition from other candidates clamoring for air time, Paul has struggled to break out.

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Paul's campaign, while conceding that he has been deliberate about what he chooses to discuss and events he attends, says the media is partially to blame.

"Y'all may be too busy covering the newest thing each week to have noticed,but we are running hard, running strong, and running all over the country," Paul strategist Doug Stafford told CNN. "It's a marathon, not a sprint."

The media, as it often can be, is indeed part of the story. National news outlets, including CNN, have poured coverage on Trump at such a rate that lesser candidates have learned they their best chance for getting air time is to attack or challenge him. But Paul has somehow avoided Trump's hot fire.

And that's all the more notable because Paul is traditionally not one to avoid a fight.

See the article here:
Where is Rand Paul? - CNNPolitics.com