American politics operates in fits and bursts, swinging its spotlight from one thing to the next (to which, of course, we ourselves contribute). Over the course of 2014, we've seen a number of political topics surge and fade, from Fort Lee, N.J., in January to the recent uptick in attention to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. (That's a whole Hudson River's worth of difference, but bear with us.)

Google's Trends tool allows us to quantify that to some extent. It shows search interest over time, and allows us to isolate the terms that spiked in the public interest in each month of 2014. Without further ado, then, here it is: the list of the hottest political words for each month of this year.

(Trends uses a 0 to 100 scale, where 100 represents the most search interest. Pictured above: the section of the year's search interest for each term in its assigned month.)

In 10 of the 12 cases, the most search interest occurred as a spike during the associated month. For two of the terms — "Fort Lee" and "Ferguson" — there was a bigger spike later in the year. Which we'll address below as we present: The Words of the Year, by Month. (If that makes sense.)

When reports emerged of an aide to Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) having called for traffic problems in the town of Fort Lee, search traffic spiked. (Fort Lee is not one of Jersey's best-known towns. Or, rather, it wasn't.) That traffic, though, pales next to the spike later in the year, when a soldier took her own life at Fort Lee, Va.

Gov. Jan Brewer (R-Ariz.) was faced with the difficult decision of whether or not to sign legislation that would have allowed businesses to deny service to gay couples. She vetoed it.

The political changes in Ukraine appear not to have captured American interest until its pseudo-invasion by Russia and the latter's annexation of Crimea.

Perhaps you remember rancher Cliven Bundy, whose cow-related standoff with the federal government became a conservative cause celebre — until his professed views on America's racial diversity made him significantly less popular.

Veterans and the Department of Veterans Affairs are always popular topics on Google, but interest peaked in May with revelations of delayed medical care prompted the resignation of the head of the agency.

Rep. David Brat (R-Va.) was not supposed to beat House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. He did, handily, prompting a lot of people to wonder who, exactly, this Brat guy was. (Notice that searches for "brat" have also gone up a bit this last week, perhaps given the holidays.)

The debate over immigration reform was redirected first by Brat's victory and, second, by the crisis of unaccompanied minors crossing into the United States, often fleeing violence in Central America. As the influx slowed, so did Google (and political) interest.

The death of Michael Brown on a street in Ferguson, Mo., prompted months of protests and, in August, confrontations with heavily armed police. Interest in the town was even higher later in the year, after a grand jury decided not to indict Darren Wilson, the officer responsible.

Remember when Scotland had an election about whether or not to leave the United Kingdom and everyone was excited about it for a day? No? Well, that happened in September.

As Election Day approached, the discovery that Americans had contracted and were being treated for Ebola seized national (and political attention). As the cases were successfully treated (and with the topic serving less political utility), interest faded.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was searched a lot in November, for some reason.

This is not the sort of chart that an elected official likes to see: A massive increase in interest thanks to a difficult political position. This is, however, where De Blasio finds himself, thanks to tensions with his police department. And, frankly, a relatively quiet political moment otherwise.

If it's any consolation to the mayor, the odds are good that the spotlight will shift somewhere else relatively soon.