Does anyone even know Rick Santorum is running for president?

Usually when analysts measure Google searches during debates, they're looking to see how candidates resonate with voters. But for Rick Santorum, who found himself in the Republican undercard debate alongside Chris Christie, Mike Huckabee, and Bobby Jindal on Tuesday evening, the high searches he garnered might have genuinely been a question of, "Wait, who is this guy, again?"

According to an extremely informal poll held by Five Thirty Eight during the debate, 69.8 percent of its readers reported that Santorum was the candidate they had "kinda forgotten was still running for president." Behind him was Jindal at 31 percent and Huckabee at 22 percent.

The peak of interest in Santorum came when he spoke about the VA, accidentally shouting into the microphone:

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Registering a whopping 0.8 percent in Real Clear Politics' polling average, Santorum has been fighting being unmemorable for awhile now. "Have the national media forgotten about Rick Santorum?" The Washington Examiner asked in April — before he'd even jumped in the race.