I have received several questions over the past week or so in regard to how the Presidential Ranking Contest is being judged.

The contest was based on a challenge where participants tried to correctly predict the rankings of the final fifteen Presidents (from a list of those remaining, prior to ‘The Quill’ releasing #15 and higher).

Scoring will be conducted as follows:

* Each entry will be compared to the final ranking list published by ‘The Quill.’ Participants will receive a 1 point deduction for each position they are off when comparing their ranking of each President to that of ‘The Quill.’ For rankings that are exactly the same, obviously NO DEDUCTION will be made.

Example:

“The Thirsty Quill” Ranking     vs.      Hypothetical Ranking    

#15 Lyndon B. Johnson                     #15 Harry S. Truman (TQ #11, -4 pts)

#14 James K. Polk                             #14 James K. Polk (no deduction)

#13 Woodrow Wilson                        #13 Lyndon Johnson (TQ #15, -2 pts)

#12 John F. Kennedy                         #12 John F. Kennedy (no deduction)

#11 Harry S. Truman                         #11 Woodrow Wilson (TQ #13, -2 pts)

Clearly, it is more advantageous to get your picks AS CLOSE to the final ranking as possible.

* The entry with the fewest overall deduction in points will be the winner.

* A perfect entry would result in an overall score of “0″ (zero).

* The winner of the contest will be announced with the unveiling of #’s 2-1, which should take place no later than Wednesday!