This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Author Joanna Brooks, aka "Mormon Girl," does not mince words about her assessment of thwarted Republican congressional candidate Mia Love.

"Did America Just Dodge the Next Sarah Palin?" asks the headline in an essay Brooks (author of the "Ask Mormon Girl" blog and the memoir "The Book of Mormon Girl: Stories from an American Faith") wrote for Religious Dispatches magazine.

Brooks listed the advantages Love supposedly brought into the campaign — strong Mormon ties, support from presidental candidate Mitt Romney, newly redrawn district lines designed to force out incumbent Jim Matheson — but also her personal disadvantages, including extreme positions and negative ads that may have turned off potential Love voters.

But one of the key problems, Brooks said, was "her lack of experience, the abruptness of her leap from small-town mayor to Congressional candidate, and a lack of depth on crucial issues became apparent during campaign debates. Additionally, some Saratoga Springs locals say that Love's national campaign distracted her from serving her own constituents when wildfires hit in June and flooding in September."