Sure, e-mail is great. But traditional mail sometimes delivers its own pleasures.

Take, for instance, the entertaining press release from the Merrick Alpert for Senate campaign I got this week via old-fashioned mail.

Out of the manila envelope I retrieved from my office mail slot Monday morning popped a gangly yellow rubber chicken, with a little identification tag tied by string around its long, thin neck: Chicken Dick.

Accompanying the bird was a note, written in red ink - chicken scratch? - from Chicken Dick himself, presumably a stand-in for our Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, explaining why he's afraid to debate Alpert again.

"He is young and bold, and takes clear positions on issues like job creation, health care, clean government and Afghanistan," the rubber chicken wrote. "My positions aren't clear because I believe in incrementalism, in small steps that don't ruffle feathers . . .

"Please help me hide. Don't make me debate again."

For the record, the chicken is right. Blumenthal has refused to debate Alpert again before the state's Democratic nominating convention in May.

A spokeswoman for his campaign said Tuesday he's too busy being attorney general.

He has also, the spokeswoman said, been traveling the state to meet with voters and hear their thoughts about Washington and getting the economy back on track. The two candidates have even met up at some of these campaign stops, she said.

The Blumenthal camp will entertain the idea of another debate after the convention, she added.

Meanwhile, the Alpert campaign, when I called to ask about the chicken - they said a small batch of them was sent to Connecticut media - was happy to taunt the attorney general some more.

"We feel it is Mr. Blumenthal's responsibility to agree to another public debate," an Alpert spokesman said. "And the whole point is to do it before the convention, so that delegates elected to the convention can make informed decisions."

Of course, this is not so much a game of chicken as classic campaign cat and mouse stuff.

Blumenthal, the front runner by chasmwide margins in the polls, is best advised to give his lesser-known opponent as little exposure as possible.

Another good reason for Blumenthal to avoid a second televised debate is that he didn't do so well in the first one.

Even the most staunch Blumenthal supporters would have to agree that he was off his game in the matchup with Alpert, who looked fresh, at ease and full of enthusiasm.

The attorney general, on the other hand, seemed surprised by his challenger's direct jabs, which put him on the defensive about his work as the state's top litigator when he should have been basking in the accomplishments of a career consumer advocate.

The attorney general's tortured assertion - however true - that lawsuits help the economy because they level the playing field for fair-minded businesses, left fodder for Chicken Dick.

"P.S. Did I mention that my lawsuits create jobs?" Alpert's rubber chicken parody of the attorney general wrote to the Connecticut press this week.

I have little doubt that Blumenthal will do a lot better if there is ever another debate in this race.

I think his calculation to avoid another televised debate for now is much less chicken, fear of his opponent, than fox, a calculated decision to ignore a woefully underfunded, lesser-known challenger.

The Blumenthal campaign called the chicken press release a desperate move.

I thought it was clever, the sign of a wily opponent who's circling the hen house. Underdogs don't have much to lose.

The front-running attorney general can afford to ignore Alpert for now, but if I were him I wouldn't get too comfortable in that large lead.

This is the opinion of David Collins.