Was it a good idea that fizzled or a bad one that flopped? Whatever it was, the White House pulled the plug Monday on the email account flag(at)whitehouse.gov, which had been set up to collect tips from Americans about "fishy" claims about President Barack Obama's healthcare plan.

The termination of the account came as Republicans raised questions about what the administration was planning to do regarding negative statements made by ordinary Americans about the president's health care plan. Rep. Darrell Issa of California, the top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, raised concerns about "the potentially chilling effect the White House's request...may have on Free Speech rights."

It wasn't the first time that the White House's use of email has raised questions about the propriety of these kinds of official communications. Last week, senior presidential adviser David Axelrod sent out a mass email from the White House addressing concerns raised about the health reform plan. The email urged recipients to forward messages to family and friends to counter emails sent by the opponents of health reform.

It appears the Obama administration is heading back to its campaign mode, where it effectively used social networking--including emails--to get the attention of the voting public. It also appears that there now are questions about whether these tactics are legitimate, coming from the White House.

For more on the White House email campaigns:
- check out this Wall Street Journal article