It's a lot like "Alice in Wonderland," says Merrick Alpert. "First you get the verdict, then comes the trial."

Democrat Alpert, who'd like to be Connecticut's next U.S. senator, is talking about the subtle and not so subtle snubs he's gotten from some of the state's grassroots Democrats.

On the stump for a year now, he's sent six letters and made at least two calls to representatives of every Democratic Town Committee, but about 50 percent of the state's municipal Democratic leaders have ignored him and a couple even barred him from attending local party meetings. Apparently some of the state's Democratic faithful are so busy fawning over the anointed nominee, state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, they've forgotten the very definition of democracy.

Webster's defines it this way: government by the people. Town committees are supposed to be representative and individuals who serve ought to make up their own minds, not parrot the whims of a local chairman or the Democratic State Central Committee. No one is obligated to support Alpert or anyone else, but committee members should at least hear from all the party's contenders before endorsing one. Such meetings would help to make for informed decisions and be the polite thing.

To be fair, southeastern Connecticut Democratic committees have been more receptive than most to meeting with Alpert, who grew up in Colchester and now lives in Mystic.

Salem, North Stonington and East Lyme have been particularly welcoming, in contrast to Manchester where, after a litany of excuses, the town chairman sent an e-mail to Alpert's campaign saying he was persona non grata until he dropped his bid and endorsed Blumenthal.

Hamden's chair was also inhospitable, telling an Alpert staffer, according to the detailed log the campaign has kept, that it wasn't worth the time of Hamden Democrats "to meet with rich people who think they have a right to run for the U.S. Senate."

That log of the letters Alpert has sent, phone calls he and his staff have made, and the responses (or lack of response) they've received, is eye-opening.

While it is not surprising that Blumenthal is the party's top pick - he's the far and away frontrunner after all - it is jarring to see how narrow-minded the supposed party of the people can be.

Even after Blumenthal's dismal performance at a televised March 1 debate - one town chair blamed Alpert for that, saying he'd given Blumenthal "a black eye" in the discussion - and a damaging story in The New York Times on April 14 that noted Blumenthal "appears almost incapable of offering concise answers to even the most predictable questions, like why he is running for the Senate" - Democrats are solidly lining up behind him. One town committee after another has endorsed his bid for the party's U.S. Senate nomination.

The Democrats must not only be pleased with Blumenthal, but confident. I'm not so sure myself.

Can Connecticut's decades-long public defender turn around the rocky start of his Senate campaign? Can he impress already disgruntled voters with reasoned rhetoric on important issues, and not the 30-second sound bites he's grown accustomed to?

This is a particularly important campaign and the majority of the state's Democratic Party seems to be taking it for granted. They're so cavalier they can't even pretend to be open-minded.

But there are a few grumblers. That Times story, the one that had to make Democrats livid, noted that some party insiders are secretly calling Blumenthal "Martha Coakley in pants," a reference to the party's presumed winner in January's special U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts, a race that Democrat Coakley lost to Scott Brown after squandering a seemingly prohibitive lead.

Alpert isn't going to get his party's endorsement at the May 21-22 convention, but he is hoping to get 15 percent of the delegates to support him so he can force a primary against Blumenthal.

"These folks are under no obligation to vote for me," Alpert says of the delegates he's wooing. "But the rank and file members have a right to have every candidate stand before them and to hear their views."

That's democracy. That's the people making an informed decision; not just following the leader. Or like Alpert says, asking someone to judge a pie contest but not letting them taste the pies first.

Government in this country is a mess right now. Voters don't want the status quo. And while Merrick Alpert may or may not be the kind of candidate voters will elect, Connecticut's Democratic Party has only hurt itself and its credibility by dismissing him outright.

So I'm rooting for Alpert. I'd like to see him get the 15 percent of convention delegates to force the primary. At least that way more than a handful of Democrats will be deciding whose name is on the party's line for U.S. Senate in November. Now that's democracy.

Ann Baldelli is associate editorial page editor.