And every day the paper boy brings more

The polls for the first portion of the NARN First Team Loon of the Year voting have officially closed. Typically when you have an election that seeks to winnow the field (in this case from nineteen to five), you expect to have a close contest for the final spot.

But looking at the results of the vote you can see that was not the case this time around. In fact, from the very beginning five candidates pulled away from the field and never were seriously challenged. They garnered an amazing 68% of all votes cast.

The top vote getter was Chris Matthews (16%), followed by Bill Maher and Jeremiah Wright tied for second (14%). Joy Behar finished a few votes behind them (13%) and Maxine Waters grabbed the fifth spot and a ticket to the LOTY finals (11%). It was a little surprising that the gap (really a chasm) between her and the sixth place position was forty-five votes.

It was also a little disappointing that the person she beat out was Ted Turner (6%). I would have thought that his prediction of widespread cannibalism within ten years because of global warming would have guaranteed him a place among the year's most looney. It says something about the caliber of looniness that we're dealing with this year.

The second half of the first round of LOTY voting will commence later today. Vote early, vote looney.