Stacey Abrams is running a less-than-subtle campaign to be Joe Biden’s vice-presidential running mate. Republicans should hope she succeeds. If selected, she would displace Sarah Palin as the least-qualified person ever to serve on a major-party ticket.

Biden should understand this, because he saw firsthand how much damage Palin’s selection did to then-Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the Republican presidential nominee in 2008. Preelection polls showed that 6 out of 10 Americans said Palin was not qualified for the job, and a Stanford University study found that she cost McCain more than 2 million votes. As Newsweek’s Howard Fineman pointed out at the time, Palin “sent wavering Democrats, independents and moderate Republicans scurrying to Sen. Barack Obama.” People simply could not see Palin stepping into the presidency if McCain — who was the second-oldest person ever to win a major party’s presidential nomination — were incapacitated.

Abrams makes Palin seem qualified by comparison. At least Palin won her race for Alaska governor. Abrams’s claim to fame is that she lost Georgia’s governor’s race in 2018. Indeed, she has never won a statewide race. The highest office she has ever attained is minority leader of the Georgia state House of Representatives, a part-time legislature.