John McCain’s rejection of affirmative action as presently constituted drew stony silence from a black audience on Friday, but even Barack Obama has problems with the government’s use of a quota system to advance women and minorities. Both men are careful, too, to suggest that something needs to take its place.

A majority of Americans (54%) say a candidate’s position on affirmative action programs is important in determining how they will vote, and 46% say such programs are no longer necessary. But nearly a third (32%) believe that affirmative action should continue.

These and other findings in a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey suggest the mixed feelings that Americans, like their presidential candidates, have about affirmative action, although most voters appear to oppose its continuation.

Fifty-eight percent (58%), for example, believe society should be allowed to work out its own problems, while only 22% believe it is the role of the government to legislate social outcomes. An identical 58% also oppose government programs that give special treatment to women and minorities, as opposed to 26% who favor them.

But when voters are asked specifically about “affirmative action,” opposition drops somewhat -- to 46% -- while the level of support stays roughly the same at 28%.

Only 11% of voters rate affirmative action as a success. Twice as many (22%) say it’s been a failure, but over two-thirds of Americans (64%) rate it as “somewhere in between.”

A well-intentioned program dating from the 1960s, affirmative action has now become a political catch phrase, particularly among some white voters, for what is seen as mandated quotas based on special treatment or even reverse bias. For many minority voters, however, opposition to affirmative action is viewed as racism.

Efforts to eliminate affirmative action in government hiring and college enrollment have been going on for several years now on the state level, including successful efforts in California, Washington and Michigan. This November voters in Arizona, Colorado, and Nebraska will consider proposed amendments to their state constitutions outlawing special preferences for minorities and women. When employers are choosing between prospective workers across racial and gender lines, 42% say most employers pick the best person for a job, while 35% say they do not.

Forty-six percent (46%) of Americans say that affirmative action discriminates against white men, although 31% disagree. A majority of white voters see such discrimination while a strong majority of African-American voters do not.

For women, affirmative action is a slightly more important issue than it is to men, with 59% of female voters saying a candidate’s position is important to them. A plurality of women voters (38%) oppose affirmative action versus nearly as many (32%) who favor it. By contrast, 55% of men are against affirmative action while only 23% support it.

Seventy-six percent (76%) of African-American voters think affirmative action programs should be continued, but only 24% of whites feel that way. Over half of white voters (53%) think the programs are no longer necessary.

Over a third of black voters (36%) say affirmative action has been a success, a view shared by only eight percent (8%) of whites.

Among Democrats, 44% favor affirmative action, but only 17% rate it as a success. Sixty-nine percent (69%) of Republicans oppose affirmative action, and just 4% see it as successful. Close to half of unaffiliated voters (47%) are in opposition, and only 7% think it has worked.

Sixty-three percent (63%) of those who plan to vote for Obama say the candidate’s position on affirmative action is important to their vote. Only 45% of likely McCain voters feel that way. About half of Obama voters (49%) believe affirmative action should be continued, while 68% of McCain voters say it’s no longer necessary.

The real question at this point is, where exactly do the candidates themselves stand on the issue? The voters aren’t sure. Seventeen percent (17%) say McCain is in favor of affirmative action, 29% say he opposes it, and 54% don’t know. As for Obama, the first African-American likely to be the presidential candidate of a major political party, 45% say he favors affirmative action, nine percent (9%) think he opposes it, and almost half (46%) aren’t sure where he stands.

The campaign between Obama and McCain remains very competitive in the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll.

Sign up for the Rasmussen Reports daily e-mail update (it’s free) and we will keep you up to date with the latest public opinion news.

See survey questions and toplines. Crosstabs are available to Premium Members only.