Yesterday, Google unveiled the Top 10 Most Googled U.S. Senators of 2009. #2 on the list read simply "nelson," causing Floridians to scratch their heads as to whether or not the referenced Nelson was Florida Senator Bill Nelson or Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson. I, like others, assumed the latter as I could think of no reason Florida's Senior Senator would reach such google stardom. But according to the New York Times, the "nelson" referenced by Google is indeed Florida's Nelson. New York Times' Online Politics Editor, Kate Phillips, was nice enough to confirm my suspicions on Twitter:@KatePhillips: @JordanRaynor #2 We asked Google if it was Ben or Bill Nelson, bec we thought so, too. We were told Bill. That's why we mentioned Ben 2.
So how did Senator Bill Nelson make it to the #2 spot of Most Googled Senators? The Miami Herald's Naked Politics blog asked the same question today, speculating that Nelson's Googlability could have come from "Nelson's crusade against the manufacturers of defective drywall...or his efforts to rid the Everglades of giant snakes." My guess? The resurfacing of this Bill Nelson video with the Senator talking about sexual intercourse on the Senate floor:
