Today, Mississippi steps into the biggest national news story going — presidential politics.

Voters will head to partisan primaries today selecting candidates to represent the Republican or Democratic parties for president.

And as surprising as it may seem, Mississippi’s choices will matter. Usually by the time Mississippians vote in presidential primaries, other states’ votes have made the real decisions leaving our vote to simply be an afterthought.

But this year is different. No clear-cut winners have emerged for either the Democratic or Republican candidates.

Perhaps not in most of our lifetimes has a presidential campaign season been so divisive and, in some cases, downright childish.

Candidates mock one another openly in debates, call one another names and generally show a nasty nature toward their opponents.

Some of that is normal, but the year’s vitriol seems a particularly virulent strain.

Voters must educate themselves and think about which candidates best fit their vision for the future of America. Sadly for many voters the choices will come down to simply age-old alliances to parties rather than truly selecting the man or woman who is best positioned to lead the country.

But in the end, when the dust settles tonight and the votes are counted, Mississippians can only lose if they stand on the sidelines and simply don’t exercise their rights to vote.

We urge all registered voters to exercise their vote and make it matter.