Despite both sides running campaigns aimed at changing a climate of special interest corruption in Washington, just over one-third of voters find three of the four major-ticket candidates more ethical than most politicians.

The Republican ticket fares marginally better than Democratic standard-bearer Barack Obama, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate and a newcomer in the race, comes out on top, viewed as more ethical that most politicians by 39% of voters. Palin is slightly ahead of her running mate, John McCain, and Obama who are viewed that way by 37% and 34% respectively (see demographic crosstabs).

The fourth candidate – Democratic vice presidential nominee Joseph Biden – is viewed as more ethical – and less ethical – than most politicians by the identical number (22%). Nearly half (46%) say the Delaware senator is about as ethical as his political peers.

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Twenty-seven percent (27%) say Palin, who is running in part on her willingness to confront corruption in her own party in Alaska, is less ethical than most politicians. Nearly as many (25%) believe that of Obama who has been running for months as an agent of change in Washington. McCain seems to benefit from his image as a maverick Republican because only 18% see him as less ethical than other politicians.

The GOP presidential candidate, like Biden a longtime member of the Senate, is viewed as about as ethical as most politicians by 41%. Thirty-five percent (35%) feel that way about Obama, the junior senator from Illinois since 2005, while 28% say that of Palin.

Voters have consistently for several months now trusted Obama more than McCain on the issue of ethics and reducing government corruption.

In a separate survey released Monday, a majority of voters said only McCain and Biden are prepared to be president now.

McCain and Obama remain very close in both the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll and Electoral College projections.

No matter who wins, the next president will be elected as a sitting senator, the first since John F. Kennedy in 1960, even though a plurality of voters (41%) say a used car salesman is more ethical than a member of Congress. Thirty-one percent (31%) have the opposite view. Democrats, who have had control of the House and Senate for the past two years, have more confidence in a congressman than Republicans who trust a used car salesman more. Just nine percent (9%) of voters now say Congress is doing a good or excellent job.

Palin gets high marks from Alaska voters for her job performance. A majority of voters in the state (51%) say she is more ethical than most politicians. An additional 33% think she is as ethical as most of her political peers.

In the new survey, 48% of male voters feel Palin is more ethical than most politicians, versus 23% who say she is less ethical. Women are evenly divided on the question with regards to Palin, but they see the three male candidates as more ethical versus less ethical by double-digit percentages.

Among men, 20% say Biden is more ethical than his peers, but 26% say he is not. Forty-three percent (43%) of male voters say McCain is more ethical, and 18% say he is less ethical. For Obama, the men give more ethical the edge by a much narrower 34% to 28%.

Naturally, when broken down by party affiliation, voters give the highest ethical marks to the candidates on their party’s national ticket. But 30% of Democrats say Obama is about as ethical as most politicians, not many less than the 37% of Republicans who believe that.

Thirty-five percent (35%) of unaffiliated voters say McCain is more ethical than most, and 30% think that of Obama. One-quarter (25%) of unaffiliateds think Obama is less ethical, while only 17% say that about McCain. Forty-six percent (46%) and 40% say McCain and Obama respectively are about as ethical as most politicians.

Among unaffiliateds, 39% also think Palin is more ethical than most politicians. Just 18% believe that of Biden. Both vice presidential candidates score in the low 20s in terms of the percentage of voters who believe they are less ethical than most.

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