Next Tuesday, voters will step into booths around the nation and decide the fate of the next four years of the United States. According to polls, almost one out of every two voters will select Sen. John McCain as the President of the United States of America.

Whoever wins the election steps into the Oval Office at the epicenter of what promises to be one of the most vitriolic terms in United States history. The nation is struggling economically, less popular with the governments of foreign nations than at any time since World War II, embroiled in two wars with additional potential hostilities in Pakistan, Iran and North Korea, and is on the brink of a health care crisis as the largest retiring generation reaches its 60s.

So when voters exercise their right as citizens next week and vote for Sen. McCain, who are they actually voting for?

According to an actuarial table from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, published in 2001, a 72-year-old male has more than a 13 percent likelihood of dying in the next four years. This number applies to a non-smoking male, and does not take into consideration cancer, genetics, or the long-term effects of torture.

The New York Times published a story last March, written by Lawrence K. Altman M.D., wherein Dr. Altman describes McCain’s specific cancer diagnoses and treatments in 2000. Altman said McCain was treated for melanoma, and was at risk for cancer reaching his lymphatic system. Altman said a report McCain’s doctors made available in 2000 said the cancer did not spread to the senator’s lymph system, but some of his lymph nodes and his saliva-producing parotid gland were removed as a precautionary measure. Altman said the survival rate for McCain’s specific melanoma after 10 years is 65 percent.

Statistically, then, McCain’s chances of living through a single term as president are slightly better than half…

In a “glass-half-full” manner of speaking.

When a responsible citizen of the United States pushes a button, checks a box, or touches a screen next to “Senator John McCain,” there is the realistic possibility the voter is pushing the “Sarah Palin” button.

Is a McCain supporter really a Palin supporter? When a voter has considered all the information, policies, and experience and decided McCain represents them as an individual, does the voter feel Palin represents them?

If McCain has a one-in-three chance of dying before inauguration day in 2013, does that mean every person who votes for the McCain-Palin ticket agrees with Palin 33 percent?

Given the probability the next President will appoint at least one Supreme Court Justice, do voters want abortion 66 percent legal? Will the remaining third of abortions be performed in Canada or Mexico, or even worse in black market surgeries with unregulated health standards? Do voters support 33 percent of all sex crime victims bearing children to full term against their will?

Do voters for McCain want Creationism taught in science classes a third of the semester, a third of the period or simply in a third of all schools?

Are foreign policy and executive experience only fractionally important for a leader who will attempt to work with nations around the world, many of whom are openly in opposition to the United States’ activities of the last seven years? Gov. Palin has been issued her first passport for travel abroad, and can ideally develop understanding and appreciation of the world in the next two months. In her infamous interview with Katie Couric, Palin indicated travel has never been one of her priorities, but is there a 33 percent chance that will change?

When voters go to cast their ballots Tuesday, the hope is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people: a government peopled by responsible decision makers, not gamblers placing their bets, and hopes, on an aging hero.