Yet another statewide poll shows Barack Obama and John McCain in a statistical dead heat.

More telling are the latest SurveyUSA results out of the Ninth Congressional District, where Mike Sodrel is running against Baron Hill for the 247th time. Not only is Hill way ahead of Sodrel, but the presidential numbers are even:

In an election for US House of Representatives from Indiana’s 9th Congressional District today, 10/06/08, incumbent Democrat Baron Hill defeats Republican Mike Sodrel 53% to 38%, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted for Roll Call, the Newspaper of Capitol Hill, and WHAS-TV in Louisville. Libertarian Eric Schansberg gets 7% today. Compared to an identical SurveyUSA poll 1 month ago, Hill is up 3; Sodrel is down 1. Compared to a SurveyUSA poll in July, Hill’s lead has doubled.

John McCain today holds a 49% to 47% edge over Barack Obama in the district. McCain’s Net Favorability is Plus 9. Obama’s Net Favorability is Plus 2. Hill’s Net Favorability is Plus 19. Sodrel’s Net Favorability is Plus 2. 28% in the district approve of the job President Bush is doing. 11% approve of the job the US Congress is doing.

Hill and Sodrel have run against each other in three previous elections; in the most recent, two years ago, Schansberg also ran, making this year’s race an exact rematch of 2006, when Hill Beat Sodrel by 5 points to re-take his seat.

It doesn’t appear that the Republican presidential wave that carried Sodrel to victory in 2004 is happening again. I guess that’s what eight years of Dubya will do to your national brand.