The little map on CNN’s homepage Tuesday night was depressing.

Passing your mouse over the map brings up a small pop-up box that gives a state name and the names of a Republican and Democratic candidate the state has selected to run for president.

All the states that have already had presidential primaries or caucuses are yellow on the map.

But Mississippi isn’t yellow, nor does it get any kind of pop-up.

It’s just a boring old gray.

Gray must stand for “doesn’t matter.”

As Virginia, Maryland and D.C. voted Tuesday, Mississippi stayed gray.

Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee and Alabama were all golden.

But not our fine state. Gray.

In the coming weeks, Hawaii, Washington, Wisconsin, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Wyoming and even Puerto Rico will turn yellow before Mississippi does.

Mississippi and its 39 Republican and 42 Democratic delegates have never mattered much in the national political scene. This election isn’t new, it just seems worse.

Perhaps it’s because New Hampshire and Iowa had their primaries so early this time.

Early on in the presidential primary timeline, the political experts were sure Mississippi wouldn’t matter much.

Then, when races stayed tight and Super Tuesday didn’t outline a clear Democratic nominee , there was hope for our small state.

Mississippi’s high black population bodes well for Obama, some experts have said.

But now, with the Republican race all but decided, the experts are again saying it’ll all be over before the March 11 Mississippi primary.

It’s Texas and Ohio that will do us in. Both delegate-rich states will vote on March 4, sending forth nearly 400 delegates.

Some states have to be left behind when it comes to picking the candidates. It’s just simple math.

But to look at the presidential slate in January and to look at it now is, well, depressing.

While Mississippi has been gray, John Edwards, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson and a host of other lesser-known candidates have dropped out.

It’s been easy to stay out of the presidential loop here in our Southern paradise. We haven’t voted, or even thought about heading to the polls.

So when the news of the latest dropouts came over the last few weeks, I was always surprised. It didn’t seem time for them to give up; we haven’t even voted.

But depressing or not, this is the way our governmental system works.

It’s a solid system, and we are lucky to have it.

Besides, we’ll still all have a voice come November.

We just won’t have as many selections from which to pick.

And after all, the political experts doing all the talking now could be wrong. Maybe Texas and Ohio will only keep things close.

Maybe it’ll be the little guys that make the difference.

A wide-open race could give our gray state something to shine about on March 11.

Julie Finley is the managing editor of The Natchez Democrat. She can be reached at 601-445-3551 or julie.finley@natchezdemocrat.com.