Not that they're bragging or anything, but Hillary Clinton's campaign team says it's so easy to get the attention of the mainstream media that they are also focusing now on getting the eyeballs of the rest of America that doesn't follow the general press.

While most other candidates are media-starved, Clinton's campaign spends much of its time fielding questions from big city newspapers and network TV. The coverage was so heavy during July 4, for example, that a rope was used near the candidate to prod reporters along.

At a media breakfast this week hosted by the Christian Science Monitor, campaign communications boss Jennifer Palmieri said with such a wealth of mainstream media coverage, the challenge is getting others not plugged in to pay attention.

Hillary Clinton's team used ropes to keep reporters moving with the candidate at a July 4 parade. AP Photo

"The folks around this table are particularly focused on our campaign, there's a lot of interest, so it's easy to get attention in the mainstream media world and that's a big part, a majority of what we do," she told the reporters.

"But you can't just talk to audiences following mainstream media and think you've done your job, so I don't look at as going around the media, you just can't talk to just the media and not utilize these other platforms," namely social media, she added.

Not so for so many other candidates, especially among the second tier of 15 GOP candidates.

Take former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum for example. He won the 2012 Iowa straw poll and was among the last to challenge Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination.

When he did the same breakfast this week, he arrived on foot with just one aide, no ropes. And about a third of the number of reporters showed up to hear the presidential candidate than Clinton's aides.

Santorum said he is confident, but wouldn't mind a little more press coverage. He spoke the truth about the impact of the media:

"What's driving national [poll] numbers is news coverage, that's what drives national numbers. If you folks had written as many stories about Jeb Bush as you have Lindsey Graham, my guess is that Bush's numbers wouldn't be anywhere near what they are today," he said.

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com.