Ohio’s top two candidates squared off Tuesday in the first of two debates, but the question remains: What did voters learn from this exercise?

The answer? Not much.

Incumbent Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat, faced off with his lead challenger, Republican John Kasich, in a televised debate that likely did little to change anyone’s minds about the candidates and also offered very little in the way of substantive changes that will help pull Ohio out of the worst depression in decades.

For the most part, both candidates stuck pretty much to party lines and took shots at each other, all the while failing to provide any concrete plans to move the state forward.

We hope both candidates think long and hard about what they would actually hope to accomplish if given a four-year term. And, perhaps most important, how would they propose doing this?

Like a business, the State of Ohio needs solid one-, five- and 10-year plans just like a small business would put in place.

Ohioans don’t want to hear about jobs. They want to have them. Ohioans don’t want to be part of feuds and political wrangling. They want the state to move forward. Ohioans don’t want to be told someone is a leader. They want to see it for themselves.

So far, citizens haven’t seen much from either side of the aisle.