Even as both presidential candidates urge Americans to undertake more public service, over half of U.S. voters reject the idea that such duty is better than working in the private sector, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Only one out of six voters view work for the government as a higher calling.

In a speech Wednesday in Colorado, Democratic candidate Barack Obama spoke of public service as a citizen’s responsibility and outlined a broad government agenda to encourage such service, including doubling the size of the Peace Corps, expanding the job program AmeriCorps and increasing the size of the military and the Foreign Service.

But in the survey taken two days before Obama’s speech, only 17% of voters see work for the government as more honorable than working for a private company, while 56% disagree. One-quarter of voters (27%) are undecided.

When asked about specific duties for the government, voters were similarly adamant. Fifty-nine percent (59%) reject the idea that it would be good for the country if every citizen spent two years in the military, although 28% believe it’s a good proposal.

Similarly, 55% of voters do not believe it would be good for every citizen to serve for two years in the Peace Corps or similar organizations, but 31% favor the concept.

Republican candidate John McCain, a Vietnam War veteran, sees military service as a high calling but in general sees government as just one of many public service options.

Republicans tend to view military service more favorably than Democrats who in turn are more supportive of the Peace Corps and like organizations. Thirty-nine percent (39%) of GOP voters favor the military service option, while 49% are opposed. Among Democrats, 21% like the idea, but 66% disagree. Unaffiliated voters are only slightly more positive, with 25% for the proposal and 58% against it.

When asked whether it would be good for the country if every citizen spent two years in the Peace Corps or a similar group, however, only 25% of Republicans are in favor, with 63% opposed. By contrast, 33% of Democrats favor the idea, with 52% opposed to it. Support for the plan is highest among unaffiliated voters (34%) versus 51% who disagree.

Seventy-five percent (75%) of African-Americans oppose the military service idea, as opposed to 56% of whites. A nearly identical 54% of white voters oppose the idea of participation in the Peace Corps or similar groups, with 63% of blacks opposed.

Nearly three times as many black voters (33%) as opposed to 13% of whites feel that government service is more honorable than working in the private sector. But 60% of whites and 37% of blacks disagree.

Seventy-two percent (72%) of those who identify themselves as political liberals are opposed to the military service idea versus 54% of conservatives and the same percentage of moderates. But only 48% of liberals reject the idea of duty in the Peace Corps and similar groups, as opposed to 62% of conservatives and 52% of moderates.

Nearly two-thirds of voters (65%) agree with an assertion made by Barack Obama in his patriotism speech earlier this week--that Americans are free to make of their lives whatever they will. Only 18% disagree. Again, blacks and Democrats are more skeptical than whites and Republicans.

While 67% of white voters and 79% of Republicans believe a person can achieve whatever they are capable of in the United States, only 36% of African-Americans and 54% of Democrats agree, as do 64% of unaffiliated voters.

A separate Rasmussen Reports survey last month found that the majority of Americans view the government as a special interest group more interested in its own well-being than that of its citizens.

Despite that view, only 27 percent of voters surveyed early this week agree with President Reagan’s famous declaration that “the most frightening words” one can hear are “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” Forty-nine percent (49%) of voters disagree.

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