Have socially-conservative voters moved on from Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee?

Huckabee and Santorum were social conservatives' main champions during the Republican primaries in 2008 and 2012, respectively. But they bombed at the Western Conservative Summit straw poll.

Santorum took 2 percent of the vote and Huckabee won just 1 percent. Straw polls aren't scientific, but the summit audience was dominated by older evangelical Christians. Unlike other candidates featured in the straw poll, both the former Pennsylvania senator the former Arkansas governor actually attended the conference and delivered speeches.

If the two of them can't make it there, can they make it anywhere?

"[I]n the past, with either Governor Huckabee or Senator Santorum there were probably fewer social conservatives that were seen as credible by the evangelical vote. And I think that there are eight or ten or twelve people in the race that evangelical voters are now paying close attention to," Tim Head, executive director for the Faith & Freedom Coalition, told the Washington Examiner.

If the Santorum campaign was worried about the results or even a little disappointed, they didn't let it show. A Santorum spokesman said straw polls don't matter and they have "a policy of not competing in straw polls," because they are "a waste of time."

Santorum communications director Matt Beynon explained that the campaign is currently focusing on winning delegates and votes rather than nonbinding straw polls. He said campaigns will sometimes bus in supporters for their speeches in order to stuff the ballot box at such events.

But the Santorum campaign claims that they are in a good place, holding an Iowa event attended by 300 people and a boasting a campaign staff of three dozen people that is larger than it was at any point in 2012.

"Were feeling really good right now, I mean the senator feels great about the message our fundraising pace is triple what it was four years ago," Beynon said.

While the campaign is doing well, Beynon admitted that their size is modest in comparison to some of the big money presidential runs.

"We don't have Jeb Bush money we never will have Jeb Bush money. But as you can see we don't need Jeb Bush money right now," he added.

Santorum is in the low single digits in scientific polls too, finishing eleventh in the RealClearPolitics polling average. Huckabee, sometimes getting as much as 10 percent of the vote and finishing fifth in the polling average.

"You're going to see a lot of vacillation in the polls over time," Head said. "I personally expect Huckabee to remain known and visible in all these polls. But among other things evangelicals from coast to coast and even denominations are studying different candidates very closely."

In 2016 evangelicals are looking for a candidate that has "unwavering, unapologetic support" for traditional values and emphasizes "pro-life views, sanctity of marriage and support for Israel," according to Head.

"If you want to win evangelical voters," Head said. "You're not just gonna be able to stand up in front of friendly crowds and say what you're expected to say."