It’s not quite as simple as that, however – Google is highlighting the (admittedly unusual) work of an American politician.  “U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson (Nebraska) – who earlier this year used Google’s MyMaps tool to create a virtual tour of his visit to Iraq – is at it again,” announced Adam Kovacevich, Google’s Manager of Global Communications and Public Affairs.

“Yesterday Sen. Nelson launched two new Google maps mashups promoting Nebraska tourism,” he continued.  “One map highlights state and federal parks; another, offbeat attractions in the Cornhusker State.”  Hence the focus on Carhenge, which actually sounds fairly interesting.

And it’s not as if Google’s playing politics by promoting Nelson’s projects – there’s no mention of the senator’s party (he’s a Democrat, if you care), and Kovacevich states, “These maps are clearly a great new way for elected officials to communicate with the citizens they represent.  Here’s hoping that more Senators and House members will follow Senator Nelson’s lead.”

Of course, few of those politicians are likely to get their maps mentioned on the Google Public Policy Blog – I’m still struck by how odd this is – but that’s a relatively unimportant matter; those who want to find them, will.