I think you are a little bit misinformed on how German elections function, either today as well as in the 1920s and 30s. Without diving too deep, no one person is voting directly for the Chancellor, rather he or she is voting for the party, in this case the NSDAP. After a majority government is formed a chancellor is chosen.
But getting to the heart of your question, no, Germany in the 1920s and especially early 30s was nothing like the United States. True, you could find similarities in speeches, posters, colorful gatherings, etc., but Weimar Germany from 1919 onwards had seen paramilitary violence, multiple Communist uprisings, an increase in political assassinations, and almost gang-like street violence across the country. Things were so bad in the late 20s they even attempted to end the bitter attacks between the Left and Right by releasing or giving amnesty to those who commited the assassinations. A crazy action with hindsight. Debates like we see in the States were not occuring. Newspapers and Speeches attacked the parties and the people. Thus your opinions of Hitler would be much different if you only read a Party newspaper compared to the local city's newspaper.
Thinking about it and I may be wrong, the only "toe-to-toe" I am aware of (and this is not my field of study by the way) was after the Reichstag Fire, when parlament "met" in the Kroll Opera house. There one of the most honorable German politicians, Otto Wels (SPD), gave a speech targeted directly at Hitler and against the death of democracy he was bearing witness to. Here is some of the speech, but unfortunately not all of it. Hitler's response is also worth listening to, but I only see German videos. You can also probably just imagine the kind of response Adolf Hitler would give to such a speech.
Anyways, after the Global Depression hit, street battles between KPD and SA members became more frequent and more bloody, the tide turned against the SPD (the Social-Democratic Party) and propaganda published from both sides muddled their moderate and rational discussions.
But what makes this so particularly different from the US, in my opinion, would be the social memory of each German citizen. For some Germans, they would gladly vote for a strong party like the NSDAP with the memory of Communist Uprisings in the Ruhr or Saxony or remembering Polish incursions. Some may remember the massacres by the Freikorps (Right-Wing paramilitary groups in the early 1920s and predecessor to the SA) in Munich or the Ruhr, arbitrarily executing citizens. Some Germans may recall the time honored traditions of the SPD party and respect its role in the Republic. But with the Communists calling for a proletariat dictatorship and the NSDAP calling for the "glory days" while continually hinting at a global conspiracy by, well, almost everyone to destroy Germany, any rational discussions on economic plans or strengthening foreign relations was out the door. The challenge to the average German citizen to comprehend the situation was far beyond any comparable election in the US. It was a time of fear, irrational violence, and irrational explanation.
Sadly the end came so quickly for rational voters citizens (between 1930-1932) that many average Germans were in complete shock that Adolf Hitler and the NSDAP had come to power. A large proportion of these likely thought of the party temporary and self-destructive, but this is a little beyond what you were asking.
Hope this kind of helps.