INDIANAPOLIS | Off the television airwaves for roughly a month, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jill Long Thompson found an audience Tuesday at the Rotary Club of Indianapolis.

A luncheon crowd of about 200 heard a summary of the jobs and health care plans the former congresswoman has put together in her November bid to unseat Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels.

"What we need to figure out is where Indiana fits in this global economy," Long Thompson said, adding that she holds master's and doctorate degrees in business and grew up on a farm.

A Long Thompson spokesman acknowledged the speech, which the campaign initially billed as "a major policy address," was more of an opportunity for the Democratic challenger to make "closing arguments," summing up her campaign. A lack of cash has kept Long Thompson from making such a pitch over the airwaves for more than four weeks, but she insisted she "very soon" will be back on TV .

State records show Long Thompson collected about $266,000 in individual contributions of $10,000 or more since Sept. 1, compared to nearly $450,000 for Daniels, who has been on TV since March. More complete figures are scheduled to come out next week.

The polls offer a mixed bag. Two media-sponsored surveys suggest the governor's race is a statistical dead heat, while three other September polls show Daniels extending a double-digit lead.