could not get elected dogcatcher

Definitions

Said of someone, particularly a politician, who is extremely unpopular.

US, excessive, idiomatic

Examples

“An insolent Republican newspaper asserts that Mr. [Grover] Cleveland is so unpopular in Washington that he could not be elected dog catcher for the district. This may be true, yet Mr. Cleveland has caught a great many dogs in his day—stealing. His success in that line would naturally make⟳ him unpopular with the claims agents and other parasites that throng the capital.”

“It is a well known fact that the average American town will not elect⟳ well educated men to municipal offices if they can help⟳ it. A man who wears kid gloves and a plug⟳ hat couldn't be elected dog catcher in any town in Oklahoma. That is why the affirmative wish⟳ the city manager to be elected by a commission.”

“Men like⟳ him couldn't get⟳ elected dogcatcher. He was a natural lieutenant, not a leader, and it was a fact he accepted with neither bitterness nor regret⟳.”

“"She [Christine O'Donnell]'s not a viable candidate for any office in the state of Delaware," said the state party chairman, Tom Ross, who is backing [Mike] Castle. "She could not be elected dog catcher."”

“[Donald] Trump, who has a glancing relationship with the truth and speaks English only as a second language, has hurled his insults at [Bob] Corker (whom he said couldn't get⟳ elected dog-catcher in his home state) and at [John] McCain – even as he journeyed to Capitol Hill to try⟳ to build⟳ support⟳ for tax reform⟳.”

CEFR level