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The sorry state of the economy — large deficits, slow recovery and high unemployment rates — is a major motivating factor for voters this year.

The business community’s perception of which candidates are best suited to represent its interests could help determine which party controls the 112th Congress, and both Republican Charles Djou and Democrat Colleen Hanabusa believe they’re right for the job.

The two traded barbs and discussed taxes, tourism, technology and the future of Hawaii’s economy at the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii’s televised Congressional Forum Wednesday night at The Plaza Club in downtown Honolulu.

With views of many of the state’s largest office buildings out the windows and the room packed with many of Hawaii’s business leaders, the two appeared to be firmly on Republican turf.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce — an organization that claims to be the world’s largest business federation with more than 3 million member businesses — has historically backed GOP politicians. The group this week found itself under fire from President Barack Obama, who accused it of mixing foreign donations into the pool of $75 million it’s spending this election season, largely to unseat vulnerable Democrats.

Locally, the Maui Chamber of Commerce recently endorsed the GOP ticket of James “Duke” Aiona and running mate Lynn Finnegan in the race for Hawaii governor. (Sherry Menor-McNamara, the chamber’s vice president of business advocacy and government affairs, said the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii has never endorsed candidates and will not endorse a candidate in the Djou-Hanabusa race. She said the Chamber is hoping to start a Political Action Committee in coming months, which would be the first step toward future endorsements.)

Djou was clearly in his element in a crowd receptive to his philosophy on the role of government, and he hammered away at the policies of the Democratic-controlled Congress.

He busted out old classics like “spend-to-no-end” and “spend, spend, and when that doesn’t work, spend some more” — phrases that anybody following the campaign could easily sing along with like a performance of “American Pie.”

“You work very hard for your money and the government should not be frittering it away,” he said.

Throughout the campaign, Djou has often adopted the language and tone of a reformer challenging the incumbent machine, and he was the more energetic of the candidates Wednesday. Djou, of course, is in fact the incumbent in the race. But Democrats had held the seat for 20 years prior to his winning the office in the May special election, still dominate Hawaii politics and have become the face of the nation’s economic ills. Djou painted Hanabusa as a “rubber stamp” for policies enacted in the last two years that Djou says have failed.

“This race revolves around one very, very simple question: Are you satisfied?” Djou asked in his closing statement, a reprise of his opening remarks. “I believe that Hawaii deserves better.”

Hanabusa spent much of her time on defense. She argued that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — aka the “stimulus” — and “TARP” (Troubled Asset Relief Program) “may have been a very smart move to keep us out of a very bad economic situation.” She pointed to specific federal programs that have helped Hawaii, like the Small Business Job Act that sent $1.7 million to six island businesses, creating 73 jobs and saving 66 other employees.

“I believe that is on the right track, that we need to put our money in small business because small business is what makes it all work,” she said. “You cannot turn your back on the role of Congress, the role of the federal government, and how it has assisted us.”

Hanabusa also attempted to remind the business community that Democrats can’t be pigeonholed as irresponsible spendthrifts, repeatedly invoking the name of President Bill Clinton. She said Clinton presided over budget surpluses before President George W. Bush implemented tax cuts and started two wars, leading to the budget deficits of today.

When moderator Bruce Coppa, chair-elect of the Chamber Board of Directors, asked the candidates which person, alive or dead, they’d want to eat lunch or dinner with, Hanabusa said she’d like to dine with Clinton to ask him how he was able to leave the country with a surplus and how we can get back to that position.

Bringing up the Clinton legacy was clearly a strategy devised in advance of the debate. She made a point of mentioning Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s role in bringing the 2011 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit to Hawaii. At one point, long before the dinner companion question, Hanabusa slipped and said “President Clinton” when she meant “President Obama.”

Djou, by contrast, said that he’d like to eat dinner with his three children, as the rigors of the campaign have made it hard to find time like to spend with his family. His kids came up numerous times throughout the debate and fit into his broader theme of fiscal responsibility, saying that there’s no plan to pay back any of the money being spent today, except “to pass the bill to my children and yours.”

“This mountain of debt we are piling on top of our children is simply irresponsible,” he said, and he’s afraid that his will be the “first generation in American history to leave the next generation worse off.”

The candidates fielded questions on issues like tourism, health care, the military, small business, education, the federal budget, transparency, transportation, energy, partisan politics, the future of the economy, and, of course, collaboration with Chamber of Commerce members.

In brief interviews with Civil Beat after the debate ended, both candidates said they would be the best choice for business.

“Look at who supports us,” Djou said. “The National Federation of Independent Business supports me and the unions support Colleen.”

Asked if she felt she was in enemy territory, Hanabusa said she received warm greetings from many people she formed relationships with during the last 12 years in the Hawaii Senate.

“People went out of their way to show up — maybe because they thought I wouldn’t have much support,” she said with a laugh.

The debate, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce and 16 other Hawaii business organizations, marked the first time that Djou and Hanabusa shared a stage since the special election in May. They’ll get right back to it Thursday at a PBS forum that will also feature Aiona and Abercrombie.