It may not seem likely now, but GOP strategists believe 71-year-old Republican presidential candidate John McCain could beat Barack Obama in the presidential race — and by a margin exceeding President Bush’s Electoral College victory in 2004. This from Politico.com:

At first blush, McCain’s recent rough patch and the considerable financial disadvantage confronting him make such predictions seem absurd. Indeed, as Republicans experience their worst days since Watergate, those same GOP strategists are reticent to publicly tout the prospect of a sizable McCain victory for fear of looking foolish.
But the contours of the electoral map, combined with McCain’s unique strengths and the nature of Obama’s possible vulnerabilities, have led to a cautious and muted optimism that McCain could actually surpass Bush’s 35-electoral-vote victory in 2004. Though they expect he would finish far closer to Obama in the popular vote, the thinking is that he could win by as many 50 electoral votes.

Who wins the election will have a big impact on ethanol stock, says Tom Dyson in DailyWealth.

“John McCain hates ethanol. If he wins the election, he’ll remove all the ethanol subsidies and hurt the farm economy. If the Democrats win, they’ll keep the subsidies in place, and ethanol stocks will probably take off…”