Despite CEOs’ fondness of John McCain, many are hopeful that President-elect Barack Obama can rescue the country from its financial crisis.

In a Grant Thornton national survey of more than 450 senior executives from various U.S. industries, 74 percent of respondents believe Obama will be able to get the country out of its economic meltdown.

Half of the CEOs surveyed believe Obama’s financial turnaround will occur within the next 24 months. Fewer than 2 percent (1.7 percent) of respondents believe that it will happen within the next six months, and 12 percent believe it will happen in the next 12 months.

A quarter (26 percent) of the respondents do not think that Obama will have any effect on the outcome of the crisis in the next 24 months.

In a pre-election day survey conducted by Chief Executive magazine, John McCain was preferred by chief corporate executives 4 to 1 over his democratic opponent.

–Blair Chancey