The challenge, Hill's second since the campaign began, came as gas prices shot skyward again at the pump and was intended to remind voters of Sodrel's misstep this spring when he suggested gas prices might not be an issue by Election Day.

Sodrel's campaign manager, Cam Savage, dismisses the call for a debate as a political stunt. "We want to debate him on a number of topics," Savage says. Sodrel's camp accuses Hill of ducking debates with Sodrel when they faced off in the past two election cycles. Savage says it fits Hill's profile as "a classic flip-flopper." Sodrel has not responded to the challenge, leaving it likely that a traditional, wide-ranging debate will take place in the fall.

Meanwhile, Hill continues to put pressure on the incumbent. A fundraising visit by former President Clinton brought a windfall of around $250,000, edging out a similar event headlined by first lady Laura Bush earlier this summer, which delivered Sodrel about $200,000.

Hill has also quit his job at a Washington lobbying firm to campaign full time, often opting to linger for a full day in a community rather than hitting multiple stops per day. The "quality time," as Abby Curan, Hill's campaign manager, calls it, may help defuse charges from Sodrel that Hill is a Washington insider and out of step with the district's traditional voters. Hill, who is not a registered lobbyist, did represent Indiana companies for the Washington lobbying firm after losing his House seat to Sodrel in 2004.

–Bret Schulte