SPIN DOCTOR DECIDE GOP DEBATE WINNER.

Byline: David Kronke's blog and podcast

Mitt Romney won the Republican presidential candidates' first debate Thursday evening at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley that aired on MSNBC.

How do I know this? Well, because backstage in the "Spin Room," I was handed a news release designed to look a little like a USA Today story. Its headline read: "GOVERNOR MITT ROMNEY WINS FIRST DEBATE WITH MESSAGE OF CONSERVATIVE CHANGE IN WASHINGTON."

So there you go. No one else had the chutzpah to hand out a similar declaration in the Spin Room, so Romney is clearly our winner. Though, to be fair, once I returned home, I had an e-mail from John McCain's campaign insisting that he had won the debate. Additionally, rather than merely quoting Romney's communications director, McCain's e-mail cited outside sources such as bloggers and pundits, among them NBC's Chuck Todd, who contributed this inspiring nugget: "McCain solid." (Must've been McCain's proclamation on Osama bin Laden: "I will follow him to the gates of hell." Simmer down, tough guy; I'm fairly certain he'll be able to find the place all by his lonesome.)

Still, McCain's e-mail didn't look like a faux newspaper article, so I'm sticking with Romney.

GOODBYE, GIRLS: Much speculation, much debate, many heart-filled pleas for an eighth season, but here's the final word: "Gilmore Girls" is done as of May15.

Here's the terse news release jointly issued by The CW and Warner Bros. Television:

"Announcing the final season of 'Gilmore Girls' is truly a sad moment for everyone at The CW and Warner Bros. Television. This series helped define a network and created a fantastic, storybook world featuring some of television's most memorable, lovable characters. We thank Amy Sherman-Palladino, Dan Palladino, Dave Rosenthal, the amazing cast led by Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel, as well as the producers, writers and crew for giving us this delightful gem for the past seven years. We would also like to thank the critics and 'Gilmore' fans for their passionate support and promise to give this series the send-off it deserves."

"The send-off it deserves?" Does that mean airing it on Fox or ABC and not The CW?

KING OF INSULTS: Hardly a stop-the-presses moment, but here goes: Bill O'Reilly insults people. Prodigiously.

A study from my alma mater, Indiana University, found that "O'Reilly called a person or a group a derogatory name every 6.8seconds, on average, or nearly nine times every minute during the editorials that open his program each night."

Wow. That's way better than I manage. O'Reilly rocks! If he could manage that rate through his entire show, Keith Olbermann's MSNBC show would be dust.

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