“It’s like he’s fallen off the face of the earth,” says former Iowa GOP political director Craig Robinson, who writes The Iowa Republican blog. Robinson points to Paul’s absence from the fair, along with some of the cattle calls that have been held in the state. “People wonder, ‘How much does he really want this?’” he says.

Robinson says he’s been favorably impressed with some of the Paul campaign’s events. Just last month on his blog, he documented the impressive organization of an event the campaign held in Poweshiek County. “But,” he says, “with this big a field, it’s just, ‘out of sight, out of mind.’”

Robinson is not alone in noticing Paul’s absence from the fair.

“What’s his problem?” one Republican consultant aligned with another candidate asks indignantly.