* From The Hill…

The poll, conducted for the Democratic House Majority PAC and SEIU, shows retired Gen. Bill Enyart (D) leading former lieutenant governor candidate Jason Plummer by 49 to 41 percent. The same poll shows President Obama leading Mitt Romney by 50 to 41, a slight dip from the 11-point margin of victory he had in the district four years ago.

* I’m not so sure I buy into those numbers totally because Obama is leading by so much in the poll. We Ask America’s polling from earlier this month had Obama ahead of Romney by just one point, 47-46, in the 618 area code. The area code covers a huge swath of Illinois, and the 12th is a Democratic-leaning district, but nine points is quite large, although, I suppose, not totally out of the question because the poll was conducted before the end of the Democratic convention.

We Ask America had this at 45-34 for Plummer back in July. But that was before many people knew who Enyart was.

* And Enyart is still struggling to get known, according to the Democrats’ own poll…

* Average the two known polls together and we get 43 for Plummer and 41.5 for Enyart. I’m hearing from other sources that this has indeed become a very close race, so the average may be nearer to what we actually have there.

*** UPDATE *** Plummer reacts…

Plummer dismissed the poll results during a conference call Wednesday morning.

“What we have here is, Nancy Pelosi has to save a little face and Bill Enyart and his liberal allies are doing what they can to carry a message that the voters of Southern Illinois just aren’t buying,” Plummer said. “The only number I’m concerned about is the 10-and-half percent unemployment rate that this district is facing.”

After I posted this story, I talked to some more people and I’m more convinced than ever that this is a very tight race.