D  e  s  e  r  t     E  x  p  o  s  u  r  e      january 2005

The Tumbleweeds Top Ten

Who and what's been making news from New Mexico in the past month, as measured by mentions in Google News (news.google.com), which tracks 4,500 worldwide news sources (arrows indicate trends vs. last month; * indicates new to the list). Say goodbye to buzz about New Mexico as a "battleground state" until 2008. Sen. Jeff Bingaman continues to climb the chart, despite falling total mentions, and we're watching for mentions of how he won't want to be "Daschled" running for re-election as a Democrat in what's now a red state: At 3 hits, "Sen. Jeff Bingaman + re-election" just missed making the list.. A good month for New Mexico historical figures, as only Geronimo and Billy the Kid gained in news citations.

1. Gov. Bill Richardson-887 hits

2. Sen. Jeff Bingaman-677 hits

3. Geronimo-437 hits

4. Sen. Pete Domenici-424 hits

5. Billy the Kid-154 hits

6. Gov. Bill Richardson + 2008-108 hits

7. New Mexico + "battleground state"-93 hits

8. NM Rep. Steve Pearce-60 hits

9. Otero Mesa-9 hits

10. New Mexico cockfighting-7 hits