I bet Samus has dropped a little as well.
I say it's this order:
Link
Snake(stronger than Mario on his own, but loses vs him)
Mario(SMG2 probably helped)
Cloud(FF7 should be decreasing each year, plus Cloud seems anti-vote prone)
Samus(probably weakened by Other M backlash)
Sephiroth(ultimate antivote character)
Sonic(games have been better lately; if Generations gets great reviews, he may have a shot at Samus or Sephy)
Mega Man(might be seen as dying)
Crono(weakens every year, though CT release on VC might have helped a little)