MILWAUKEE -- "Dancing with the Stars" is finally over. Now people are finally able to focus all of their attention on the upcoming presidential election. Not exactly. The presidential election is less than a year away, but the Iowa caucus is only a mere five weeks away. This past week's events should have lasting effects on the Republican presidential race.

There was yet another debate this past week, but this time it was a Republican debate. The eight Republican candidates were all present in St. Petersburg, Fla., for the debate. Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani exchanged cheap shots about immigration. Giuliani accused Romney of running a "sanctuary mansion" by employing illegal immigrants on his estate. Giuliani really took the high road here. Instead of focusing on a solution to the immigration problem, Giuliani decided to personally attack his top competition. Romney also chose to personally attack Giuliani by accusing him of running a “sanctuary city” while he was mayor of New York. Romney and Giuliani should have just exchanged "yo momma" jokes. That would have been more productive.

Too often these debates revolve around personal attacks. The personal attacks accomplish nothing. What did Giuliani prove by saying Romney employed illegal immigrants? What did Romney prove by saying Giuliani was partly responsible for New York being a safe haven for immigrants? Nothing. Once again, the two of them focused on the past and not the future. Sometimes the past is relevant in an election. For example, the voting record of a candidate is always relevant. However, the focus of the debate should have been on solving particular problems. The first caucus is just more than a month away, and candidates are talking about some illegal immigrants that once worked at Romney’s home in Massachusetts. Please spare us all and talk about issues.