Maybe she thought Chicago, not being in the Bible Belt, wouldn't believe the "God told me to" explanation. -- The Chicago Tribune interviews Majette.

After serving less than two years in the U.S. House, Majette shocked her 4th Congressional District constituents and the state Democratic Party leadership when she announced that God had told her to run for the Senate.

Her entry in the Senate complicated the picture for the Democratic Party, which at the time was still struggling to come up with a big-name candidate to replace Miller.

While making her announcement in front of the state Capitol on March 29, Majette was asked if she had the state Party's backing.

Her response: "I don't need anybody's blessing. I get my blessings from God, and I do what I'm led to do."

And to make sure there was no misunderstanding about how she felt about such matters, at this announcement -- officially day 1 of her campaign -- she then fired a volley across her Party's bow by adding:

"If the Democratic party leadership here had their act together, they wouldn't be in this situation."

That was back in March in Atlanta. But when Majette was interviewed recently by a correspondent for the Chicago Tribune for an article for consumption by readers in Chicago, Los Angeles and elsewhere outside of Georgia, the Congresswoman offered up a different reason why she entered the race.

With no mention of having received divine instructions to enter the Senate race, she said that the reason she got in the race was that no other high-profile Democrat would enter the race to replace Miller, and thus she stepped in.

Regardless of the different explanations, the most recent in the Chicago Tribune does find some basis of other things Majette said at her candidacy announcement in Atlanta. She also said she enjoys good statewide name recognition because of her 2002 race against former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney McKinney.

The Chicago Tribune begins its article about Majette as follows:

"When Denise Majette decided to leave the U.S. House after one term to run for the Senate, she didn't get many calls from well-wishers promising their support. Instead, she got a lot of warnings -- mostly from fellow Democrats -- that she would be committing political suicide."

But just so the non-Georgia readers across the country of the Chicago Tribune are clear about such callers -- and I have spoken with one of her fellow Democratic Congressmen who did make such a call -- while the message conveyed was not what Majette wanted to hear, they were calling her as friends, with many of them having pulled for her if not helped her rise from obscurity to defeat 10-year incumbent McKinney in 2002.

When writing back in July about the Senate Democratic Primary, and noting that a runoff was inevitable, Bill Shipp wrote what the election results would mean with respect to the eight-candidate field -- the ''gang of fringes,'' some called it. He wrote:

"So what does it mean if:

* Multimillionaire Cliff Oxford runs first? Money talks.

* Congresswoman Denise Majette captures first? Race dominates.

* Douglas lawyer Sid Cottingham [who qualified on Thursday afternoon after Cliff Oxford held a press conference earlier in the day announcing he wound not run]? Miracles happen.

* Lawyer and anti-war activist Jim Finkelstein finishes second? The invasion of Iraq was an even worse idea than we first thought.

* State Rep. Mary Squires ranks second? The voting machines failed.

* Commercial real estate agent Gorvind N. Patel comes in second? Martians have invaded.

Although the invasion of Iraq has proven to be an even worse idea than we thought when Mr. Shipp penned his column, the voting machines are up and running, the Martians have not invaded, and on Nov. 2 no miracles will happen for Majette.

(Chicago Tribune; Jim Tharpe on 03-29-04 ajc.)