“Mr. McCain advocates eliminating the multibillion-dollar annual government subsidies that domestic ethanol has long enjoyed. As a free trade advocate, he also opposes the 54-cent-a-gallon tariff that the United States slaps on imports of ethanol made from sugar cane, which packs more of an energy punch than corn-based ethanol and is cheaper to produce” (Rohter, 6/23/08).

I agree that the ethanol mandate combined with the tariff is incredibly dimwitted. Unfortunately, the general public seems so uninformed on the issue that they don't even realize what's going on.

So this would be one HUGE point for McCain... if people stopped, open their eyes, and did a little research instead accepting what policy makers say as fact without actually checking it out for themselves.