Rob Portman in The Cleveland Plain-Dealer

On Corporations: More than 70 company tours & plant visits, to stay in touch

He cited as an example the air freight company DHL which devastated Wilmington when it began shuttering operations in 2008. DHL shocked city and state officials when it announced plans in 2008 to discontinue ground delivery services, which led to the end of operations in Wilmington and the loss of nearly 8,000 jobs.

Fisher responded to Portman's criticism about company visits that he doesn't need to tour factories because he's has on-the-ground experience negotiating deals and saving companies.

Portman shot back: "Maybe you ought to visit some more of those factories because that's not what I'm hearing."

On Principles & Values: A top adviser to President George W. Bush

Portman, a top adviser to President George W. Bush, stuck to his main campaign theme: Fisher and the Democrats are to blame for Ohio's nearly 400,000 job losses.

Both candidates argued that other was of more of a career politician and insider, which injected energy into the debate. Fisher referred to Portman--a former corporate lawyer--as a lobbyist, Mr. Washington, a rubber stamp and the chief architect of Bush policies.

Asked by a debate panelist to reconcile such claims with his own long career as a political insider, Fisher said, "The bottom line is not so much whether you serve, it's who you serve. I think he's serving the lobbyists and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the insurance industry and Wall Street," Fisher said.