I have admittedly devoted little attention to Republican Todd Young's candidacy for Democrat Baron Hill's seat in Congress. With Hill getting all kinds of attention for playing basketball with President Obama (The White House team reportedly took four out of five games over the Congressional team), I thought it would be good to update the Young candidacy.

Former Vice-President Dan Quayle of Indiana is the star attraction of a Todd Young fundraiser set for October 14 at the Bloomington Country Club, ($300 apiece, Couple $550). "Please be our guest as we savor this time of change in the seasons. Let this not only be a change from the warm summer months, but a time of change for Indiana's Ninth District," the invitation reads. Quayle is related to Young's wife.

Young also got some national press this past week in the Roll Call story, "GOP Has Big Hoosier Dreams Next Year." Roll Call reports that not only is Young challenging Hill, but that Republicans "are on the verge of recruiting competitive candidates to run against Democratic Reps. Joe Donnelly and Brad Ellsworth."

Many Republicans view Hill's district as their best shot at picking up an Indiana seat next year, in part because it's the only district in which they have fielded an official candidate. But out of the three competitive districts, Hill's southern Indiana territory has also more consistently voted for Republicans.

Attorney Todd Young (R) entered the race against Hill in January, but it's unclear whether he might have some company. Former Rep. Mike Sodrel (R), who has faced off against Hill in the past four elections, has not ruled out running for a fifth time.

"Not prepared to make any statement for or against at this point," Sodrel said in a phone interview on Monday. "Let's put it this way: I have not discounted that possibility, but I'm certainly not ready to make an announcement either."

Young's campaign says he is a "former Marine and Reagan conservative who knows the meaning of service and accountability."

Since Lee Hamilton's retirement, the 9th District has been competitive, and Hill has two hurdles to cross next year, regardless of who the GOP chooses, the mid-term election of Obama's Presidency in a conservative district, and Hill's "This is my town hall meeting" YouTube clip that has gone viral and caused fellow Democrat John Yarmuth to say that Hill's comments had probably cost his reelection.

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