Feeling a little, uh, sheepish about how the presidential race turned out in Missouri?

Yes, the state that didn’t get its votes tallied until two weeks after the election went for John McCain while most of the nation supported Barack Obama.

The result forfeits Missouri’s bellwether status — the distinction of having gone with the winner in all but one previous presidential election since 1900.

Maybe Illinois is the problem.

In 1956, Missouri went with former Illinois governor Adlai Stevenson, who lost to Dwight D. Eisenhower.

This time Missouri narrowly rejected the senator from the Land of Lincoln, who ended up capturing the prize.

A likelier explanation is that Missouri, at the moment, isn’t as much of a national microcosm as some pundits have suggested.

Its Hispanic population, at 3 percent, is one-fourth of the national average. And the 36 percent of churchgoers in Missouri who describe themselves as evangelical Christians is about 10 percentage points higher than the nation as a whole.

Our lost bellwether status might cut down on business during election time.

Media people from around the world were drawn by the label. No longer can they be counted on to fan out around the state, interviewing Missourians in diners and on their combines.

Missouri will retain swing state status, however, which should continue to bring a share of attention.

The original definition of a bellwether is a sheep that leads the flock, wearing a bell.

But with this year’s late returns, Missouri seemed to be bringing up the rear.