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RNC TO CLICK ON RESTART

Online Director Resigns

Cyrus Krohn, the Republican National Committee's top online official, is logging off.

Among the most respected technocrats in the Republican Party, Krohn is just the latest in a string of officials to resign from the RNC. Last week, the RNC's finance director quit. But because RNC Chairman Michael S. Steele made leveraging the Internet to attract voters to the Republican Party a top priority in a tech summit two weeks ago, Krohn's departure comes as an especially heavy blow.

A veteran of Microsoft and Yahoo, Krohn joined the RNC in July 2007 and immediately started to reboot the party's online infrastructure. During his tenure, he launched new sites within GOP.com, built the RNC's Facebook group (which now has about 7,000 more members than the Democratic National Committee's) and expanded the RNC's e-mail list from 1.8 million to 12 million.

Krohn announced his resignation in a blog post on E-VoterInstitute.com, the Web site of a 10-year-old, nonpartisan think tank where he sits on the board of advisers. In an interview, Krohn said he will move back to Seattle with his family and has no job lined up, though he may consider running for office. And, true to form, he signed off from the RNC with his sense of humor intact. In his resignation blog post, Krohn hints at working for a 2012 presidential candidate -- only to leave readers Rickrolled.

-- Jose Antonio Vargas

TUNING IN

Radio Gifts Rain Down

It's raining radios at the White House.

Responding Wednesday to questions about the verbal barbs the Obama administration has hurled at conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs commented, "I wish I had a radio."

Well, now he does. ABC News Radio White House correspondent Ann Compton on Thursday delivered a radio to Gibbs. It was reportedly accompanied by a note from network Vice President Steve Jones, saying: "You can join the 235 million people weekly that listen to the radio."

That gift was followed by a similar one from the HD Digital Radio Alliance, which, after hearing Gibbs's comments, sent him a radio with an iPod dock.

Those two were capped by a present from WTOP radio analyst Mark Plotkin, who approached Gibbs at the close of Thursday's briefing. "I have something you don't have," Plotkin said, handing over the gift, which was tuned to WTOP. "Here, enjoy the miracle of radio."

-- Michael A. Fletcher