JACKSONVILLE, Florida (CNN) -- After a stunning loss in South Carolina and an uneven performance in a debate on Monday, Mitt Romney appeared to get his swagger back and turned in a strong performance in Thursday's CNN/Republican Party of Florida debate. Here are five things we learned Thursday night.
Romney came to play
On the heels of his drubbing in South Carolina, Romney stabilized in the polls this week and now appears to be holding a comfortable lead in Florida. His renewed sense of confidence was on display Thursday night.
Romney, in what may have been his sharpest debate performance of the campaign, quickly put Gingrich on his heels with a swift 1-2 punch out of the gate.
First, he drew applause by forcefully brushing back Gingrich's claim that he is the most "anti-immigrant" candidate in the Republican field.
"Mr. Speaker, I'm not anti-immigrant," Romney said. "My father was born in Mexico. My wife's father was born in Wales. They came to this country. The idea that I'm anti-immigrant is repulsive. Don't use a term like that."
Amid the cheers, Gingrich seemed baffled that the debate crowd was siding with Romney instead of him.
Moments later, Romney was prepared when Gingrich tried to highlight Romney's personal investments in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in an effort to cast Romney as a hypocrite.
Romney has spent several days going after Gingrich for giving paid advice to the federally backed mortgage firm Freddie Mac ahead of the national housing meltdown, which led to a wave of foreclosures in Florida. Gingrich tried to fight back in the debate.
"Have you checked your own investments?" Romney retorted after Gingrich called attention to the mutual fund investments. "You also have investments through mutual funds that also invest in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac."
A stone-faced Gingrich had no answer. (Someone in Boston buy the research team a six pack!)
Also working in Romney's favor: a new debate coach, former Michele Bachmann adviser Brett O'Donnell.
O'Donnell told CNN that Romney realized after South Carolina that he needed to "make some changes strategically" in his onstage message.
"He knew he had to engage Newt more and be better on a couple of answers," O'Donnell said. "He worked really hard to get them right, and tonight I saw a vast improvement."
Gingrich steps in immigration quicksand
Gingrich's most dramatic exchange with Romney came when discussing the sensitive topic of illegal immigration. He decided to stake out a position to the left of Romney.
Moderator Wolf Blitzer asked Gingrich to explain a radio ad calling Romney "the most anti-immigrant candidate" in the race.
Gingrich suggested Romney's illegal immigration positions are so tough that he would storm churches and deport helpless grandmothers. He called for an immigration policy with "some level of humanity."
Romney fired back.
"You know, our problem is not 11 million grandmothers," he said. "Our problem is 11 million people getting jobs that many Americans, legal immigrants, would like to have."
The debate theater erupted in applause for Romney.
Hispanic voters comprise about a tenth of Republican primary voters in Florida, and the candidates have noticeably softened their immigration rhetoric on the trail this week as a result.
But as Rick Perry discovered in a Florida debate last fall when he said immigration hardliners don't "have a heart," drifting too far to the left of the conservative base can be a risky proposition in the Sunshine State.
Perry cratered in the polls soon after making that remark.
Gingrich's decision to spar at length with Romney over whether illegal immigrants deserve to stay in the country was a tactical blunder in a Republican primary, simply because he helped Romney look more conservative.
One of Gingrich's campaign co-chairs in Florida, former Attorney General Bill McCollum, conceded that it was not one of Gingrich's best nights.
"I don't think he hurt himself," McCollum said. "I just don't think he helped himself as much as he did in South Carolina."
Space madness
Gingrich's opponents have mocked him for offering policy ideas that can sometimes seem farfetched, nonsensical or just plain strange.
Gingrich has always been a proponent of space exploration, but his plan to install an American colony on the moon by the end of his second term in office was roundly attacked on Thursday.
In a time of fiscal austerity, when NASA is facing deep cuts, the Republican candidates agreed that his proposal is outlandish and too costly for the country.
Romney: "That's an enormous expense. And right now I want to be spending money here."
Rick Santorum: "Those are things that sound good and maybe make big promises to people, but we've got to be responsible in the way we allocate our resources."
Ron Paul: "Health care or something else deserves a lot more priority than going
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