Line #114 Main/SleazyPolitician


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4	[[quoteright:300:[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/votequimby2.png]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:300:On the bright side, [[AtLeastIAdmitIt he is honest]].]]
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7	->'''Politician,''' ''n''. An eel in the fundamental mud upon which the superstructure of society is reared. When he wriggles he mistakes the agitation of his tail for the trembling of the edifice. As compared to the statesman, he suffers the disadvantage of being alive.
8	-->-- '''Creator/AmbroseBierce''', ''Literature/TheDevilsDictionary''
9
10	A Sleazy Politician exemplifies the worst stereotypes of politics; they take bribes, engage in blatant hypocrisy, face constant personal scandals, and are generally unpleasant people to be around. Often, they are based on caricatures of [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed real-world politicians]], or amalgams of them -- especially ones that tend to get a lot of flak. They tend to be shown with almost no charisma, too, which tends to make you wonder how they got elected in the first place. When taken to extremes, they will often have NoPartyGiven, though they can also be used as a StrawmanPolitical against one specific party, ideology, or against government in general. Compare the more outright and aggressively criminal CorruptPolitician. See also MayorPain (which frequently blends with this trope) and ObstructiveBureaucrat.
11
12	Compare WindbagPolitician.
13
14	[[noreallife]]
15	----
16	!!Examples:
17	[[foldercontrol]]
18
19	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
20	* The seinen manga ''Manga/{{Akumetsu}}'' is rife with these guys, who the title character has taken it upon himself to eliminate.
21	* Ninamori's unseen father in ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'' is the mayor of Mabase, who cheated on his wife with one of his employees, who offers Ninamori a ride in episode 3 (and Ninamori calls her out in the manga).
22	* Chika Fujiwara from ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' is basically what happens when this trope is filtered through a school setting. While she normally acts like TheCutie, she gleefully admits that campaign promises don't mean anything, has given and accepted bribes, and betrays her friends at the drop of a hat if it suits her purposes.
23	* The Interior Minister from ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'' is usually shown accompanied by [[SexBot scantily-clad maidbots]], as well as being involved in corrupt political deals (though that's hardly unusual for politicians in this series).
24	[[/folder]]
25
26	[[folder:Comic Books]]
27	* ''Webcomic/{{Dreamkeepers}}'' has Viscount Calah, who's easily manipulated, rarely gives straight answers (not even to his own daughter), and also has an illegitimate daughter he's trying to hide from the world in order to prevent a scandal.
28	* In ''ComicBook/{{Drowntown}}'', Jeremy Twisden tells a representative of Drakenberg Corporation that while he is indeed accepting their generous donations and he is indeed going to adopt policies which benefit them, these two things are ''completely'' unrelated, and he's actually a man of principle. He's not very convincing.
29	* Every politician in ''ComicBook/SinCity'' is an {{exaggerat\|edTrope}}ion of this. Case in point: Senator Roark. He's so corrupt that he is perfectly willing to allow his son to rape and murder little girls, going so far as to protect him from honest detectives.
30	* ''ComicBook/TransformersRobotsInDisguise'': Following the end of the Great War and the return to a newly-restored Cybertron, [[TheStarscream Starscream]] gets himself elected to be Cybertron's new leader. His leadership is marked by a significant amount of corruption and incompetence. When the Lost Colonies are rediscovered he attempts to manipulate them into granting him more power and influence (while also wasting resources having multiple new bodies built for himself), but eventually Windblade and the others outmaneuver him and he's sent to prison after his schemes and illegal use of the Enigma of Combination get discovered.
31	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': Mayor Goode is a sleazy lawyer turned politician, who has been part of the corrupt system in Bourbon City for decades. When a young lawyer starts uncovering evidence of how interconnected organized crime and local government are he had him murdered.
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Fan Works]]
35	* The [[AlternateUniverseFic AU]] ''Fanfic/ThoseWhoStandForNothingFallForAnything'' by [[http://www.fanfiction.net/u/2608636/halfpromise halfpromise]], which reimagines the cast of ''Manga/DeathNote'' as sleazy politicians-but from a (sort of) sympathetic point of view. As Light points out he has to be InWithTheInCrowd and at least look "accessible" [[JerkJustifications in order to succeed in politics]].
36	* Cornelius Fudge was already one of these in ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' canon and in the [[AlternateUniverseFic AU]] ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8569469/1/Raised-by-Darkness Raised By Darkness]]'' he still is one but he becomes ''better'' at it, [[TookALevelInBadass he grows a backbone]] and begins making his own decisions rather than just relying on his campaign donors for advice, becoming TheChessmaster.
37	* Ministerial Candidate Draco Malfoy is this in ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/series/37557 The Charming Universe]]'' and [[BlackAndGreyMorality he's one of the good guys]] because [[CorruptPolitician his opponent]] is even worse.
38	* ''Fanfic/TheInfiniteLoops'': Zeus, leader of the Olympian pantheon among the Admins of Yggdrasil. He's usually off making another romantic conquest rather than doing his actual job, and tries to take credit for other people's work; his actions also caused at least one variant Loop that another Admin had to ''crash'' in order to save the Anchor from disaster. His answering machine exemplifies the trope with this message:
39	-->'''Zeus's Answering Machine:''' Remember to vote Zeus in any and all upcoming elections!
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	[[folder:Film]]
43	* ''Film/BobRoberts'' in the titular film can play the guitar, he loves God and he's a darling amongst the Republicans. In reality, he does whatever he can to climb the political ladder, and he has the power to have people murdered for uncovering his corruption.
44	* In ''Film/{{Bullitt}}'', Senator Chambers wants something juicy to present to Congress as his "tough on crime" campaign -- either a golden witness to the workings of TheMafia or evidence of misbehavior in the ranks of the San Francisco Police [[WitlessProtectionProgram when the witness is killed on their watch]] ([[spoiler:well, [[FakingTheDead seemingly]]]]). He is so damned sleazy that he may as well have "sponsored by the Mafia" printed on his forehead in letters the size of Golden Gate Bridge -- [[RedHerring but he isn't. He is on the side of angels]], but a huge {{Jerkass}} all the same.
45	* Boss Jim Geddes in ''Film/CitizenKane''. He tries to {{blackmail}} Kane into dropping out of the election by threatening to make public Kane's affair with Susan Alexander. Kane refuses to back down, the affair is made public, and Kane loses the election (as well as his wife).
46	* The deputy mayor in ''Film/{{Ikiru}}'', who, after doing his damnedest to crush Watanabe's attempt to get a park built out of petty turf guarding, tries to take credit for it even at Watanabe's funeral.
47	* Bill Heslop, local councilman for the fictional Australian town of Porpoise Spit in ''Film/MurielsWedding'', has spent most of his political career positioning himself to get kickbacks for building projects as a local councilman in Porpoise Spit, and also makes a habit of cheating on his wife and emotionally abusing his kids.
48	* "Boss" Tweed in ''Film/GangsOfNewYork'' cares only about getting votes for his election and will do anything to gain them, even [[PlayingBothSides supporting both sides]] of a potential MobWar. When the New York Draft Riots lead to hundreds of deaths, the only thing he laments is that every single one of the casualties is one vote he won't get.
49	* The mayor of Los Angeles in ''Film/RockOfAges'', who promises to clean up the city but is having an affair with his secretary on the side.
50	* Pretty much the whole point of ''Film/TheCampaign.''
51	* Governor [=LePetomane=] of ''Film/BlazingSaddles'' is an idiot who seems to care mostly about floozies. His attorney general Hedley Lamarr is even more corrupt.
52	* ''Film/CharlieWilsonsWar'' presents the title character as a congressman who is nearly constantly surrounded with babes, booze, and blow, yet is a noble statesman who takes his responsibilities very seriously all the same.
53	-->'''Charlie:''' You know you've reached rock bottom when you're told you have character flaws by a man who hanged his predecessor in a {{military coup}}.
54	* ''Film/MurderAt1600'': Despite his ultimately sympathetic portrayal, the President does seem willing to write off the hostages in North Korea despite the advice of all of his subordinates, is willing to let his son get away with murder when he thinks the young man is guilty, and engages in some TreacheryCoverUp rather than admit the late culprit was one of his advisors.
55	* ''Film/{{Shooter}}'': Senator Charles Meachum is the film's BigBad, although his partner-in-crime Colonel Johnson is TheHeavy. An unscrupulous man fully complicit in the GovernmentConspiracy, he covers his bases so well that even at the film's end the heroes have nothing on him [[TheBadGuyWins and are forced to let him walk]] ([[spoiler:well, [[VigilanteExecution for a little while, that is]]]]). In the film, at least, he's a none-too-subtle jab at then-living Senator Strom Thurmond.
56	* ''Film/TalesFromTheHood'': Duke Metzger is a smarmy [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain racist]] politician and former KKK member who decided to move into an old plantation house that once belonged to one of his ancestors, a slaveholder who was responsible for massacring all his slaves at the end of the Civil War.
57	* President Bill Mitchell in ''Film/{{Dave}}'' is both carrying on at least one extramarital affair, and [[spoiler:embroiled in a savings and loan scandal as well]]. He spends most of the film comatose, though, and several characters who are not in on the body-double switcheroo with the titular nice-guy character marvel at the difference in behavior that they think is brought on by a "minor" stroke.
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Literature]]
61	* ''Literature/BrownGirlInTheRing'': Downplayed with Premier Uttley. She's only seeking a human heart instead of the typical pig heart for her transplant to look good in her upcoming reelection campaign, not out of any moral stance on pig farming.
62	* Edwin O'Connor's novel ''Literature/TheLastHurrah''. Frank Skeffington hands out political favors in exchange for loyalty, neutralizes political opponents by offering them jobs for which they are unqualified, distributes money from a glorified slush fund... and is positively ''beloved'' by the citizens of his city- even by many of those who vote ''against'' him. The film version is a ''definite'' subversion, which unambiguously depicts Skeffington as a positive figure.
63	** Skeffington is an {{expy}} of a RealLife mayor of Boston during the heyday of machine politics.
64	* Tomer Darpen, Wedge's diplomatic liaison in ''[[Literature/XWingSeries Starfighters of Adumar]]''. What he did ''was'' all in service to the New Republic, more or less, but [[AssInAmbassador Wedge Antilles]] strongly disagreed with the strict Ends Justify The Means instructions. Which involved slaughtering the [[ProudWarriorRace inferior native pilots]] to play up to the BloodSport-happy local culture and helping to crush dissenting nations rebelling against the local country's New World Order. When Wedge refused, Tomer lied to the country's leader, and the order was sent out to have Wedge and his pilots killed.
65	* Congressman David Dilbeck in the novel and film ''Literature/{{Striptease}}''.
66	* Greg Stillson in Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/TheDeadZone'' regularly uses illegal methods, such as blackmailing businessmen to finance his campaigns, and intimidating whistleblowers with thugs. However, he's very charismatic, constructing a highly likeable public persona. [[spoiler:Fortunately, his political career is derailed after he uses a child as a HumanShield to prevent Johnny from shooting him.]]
67	* Governor Fullarbottom in ''Literature/{{Victoria}}''. Unlike most other antagonist politicians in the story, there is no indication that he is ''corrupt'' in the sense of being an outright criminal in office, but he is still deeply tied up in questionable machine politics, horsetrading, and various shady applications of executive power.
68	* In ''[[Literature/{{Wyatt}} Kickback]]'', Wyatt is hired to steal the eponymous kickback: a BriefcaseFullOfMoney that is destined for a crooked state senator so he will sign off on a real estate development. It turns out that said politician does not take too kindly to having 'his' money stolen and has some powerful 'friends'.
69	* ''Franchise/StarWarsTheHighRepublic: [[Literature/StarWarsTheRisingStorm The Rising Storm]]'': Senator Tia Toon just oozes sleaze, spending all his time talking about how instead of spending money on the "wasteful" Republic Fair, they should instead be spending money on his Defense Force Project, a galaxy-wide Republic military -- which, coincidentally, would involve quite a lot of money going to his home planet of Sullust, which holds many shipbuilding contracts. He is also very critical of the Jedi, only giving vague platitudes that they "did their part" but the Republic still needs its own military. [[spoiler:Subverted when someone tries to sell him an anti-Jedi weapon. Toon is horrified and has her arrested (the device used illegal materials; she thought he'd let it slide). He doesn't hate the Jedi and he isn't a traitor, he just genuinely believes that the Republic can't rely solely on the Jedi to defend them. Later, when the Jedi realize that the Nihil are tapping Republic comm traffic, Toon capitalizes on his reputation for hating Jedi by making it sound like a specific target will be undefended, allowing the Jedi to ambush a huge chunk of the Nihil fleet]].
70
71	[[/folder]]
72
73	[[folder: Live-Action TV]]
74	* Herbert Love in ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' receives bribes from dubious parties, cheats on his wife, and supports the Bluths' initiative to build a wall on the Mexican border.
75	* George Mladenov from ''Series/AustralianSurvivor'', who is in real life the President of the Bankstown Labor Party, plays up this image on occasion: Describing himself as a professional spin-doctor who can bring his political experience to manipulate his way through the social game.
76	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Played with, with Tyrion Lannister, he has some of the traits such as drinking and whoremongering but [[MrViceGuy is ultimately a fettered, earnest statesman]]. Tyrion knows well that politics are inherently sleazy and corrupt and doesn't disdain this aspect of the dirty game, which makes him a very good player.
77	* Pawnee City Councilman Bill Dexhart of ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' fits this to a T, complete with sex scandals, religious and social hypocrisy, and incredibly obvious sleaze, to which everyone is completely oblivious because he's so good-looking (and because nobody cares about local politics).
78	-->'''Perd Hapley''': One more shocking revelation in a story that just won't stop unfolding. It turns out Councilman Dexhart may have also had sex with a prostitute in the limousine on the way to and from [[{{Irony}} the press conference where he apologized for having an affair]].
79	** There's also Councilman Jeremy Jamm, who is also very much [[CorruptPolitician for sale]].
80	* More or less averted (!) in ''Series/YesMinister'': Even at his pandering lowest, Jim Hacker still understands right and wrong and has a sense of duty to his constituents and the British people. He's more pathetic than despicable in his (often half-baked) attempts to win popularity. As his wife put it, he's a "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whisky_priest whisky priest]]" who recognizes that what he's doing is wrong and still feels bad about it.
81	* Similarly, the various politicians in ''Series/TheThickOfIt'' are more incompetent than corrupt, and though they can be petty, venal, arse-covering self-promoters, it is rare for them to do anything more serious than screw each other over.
82	** Possibly the reason they don't do anything worse is that they're terrified of what [[MagnificentBastard Malcolm]] [[SirSwearsalot Tucker]] would do if any real political sleaze found its way into the papers.
83	* Londo in ''Series/BabylonFive'' is a more sympathetic take on this, being a TragicVillain with redeeming traits, rather than just a villain.
84	* Mayor Arthur "Artie" Worth in the ''Series/BlackScorpion''. His crooked actions result in the OriginStory for several {{Supervillain}}s. When the title character asks who would benefit from his death, her colleagues give a ''long'' list of people.
85	* Alan B'Stard in ''Series/TheNewStatesman''. In fact, '''every''' politician in ''The New Statesman'' with the possible exceptions of Sir Stephen Baxter (who is presented as being old and out-of-touch) and Bob Crippen. Piers Fletcher-Dervish is this in a rather pathetic way.
86	%%* Boss Hogg in ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard''.
87	* The ''Ethics Commissioner'' of all people in an episode of ''Series/DanForMayor''.
88	* Almost every politician on ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'' would qualify.
89	* Senator Clay Davis of ''Series/TheWire'' engages in much fraud and bribery over the course of the series and associates with known drug dealers, and for bonus hypocrisy claims he's using money defrauded from charitable organizations to help impoverished citizens in his district. [[WordOfGod According to]] Creator/DavidSimon, he's based on several real-life Maryland politicians.
90	** Given that the show is pretty far on the cynical side of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism, almost all local government officials in Baltimore are this, if not quite as sleazy and corrupt as Davis. Tommy Carcetti's arc, in particular, is essentially his [[CorruptTheCutie transformation]] from a well-meaning civil servant to a dishonest, self-serving politician, due to this behavior being InherentInTheSystem.
91	* Mayor Hernandez (Creator/GeorgeLopez) on ''Series/{{Reno 911}}'' definitely qualifies; his infractions include drug use and adultery.
92	* In the Melonville local elections episode of ''Series/{{SCTV}}'', running against CloudCuckoolander incumbent Tommy Shanks is slimy Vic Hedges, who starts any interview with furious denials of illegal activities.
93	* Both [=SECNAVs=] on ''Series/{{JAG}}'' alternates between this and ReasonableAuthorityFigure.
94	* All of the mayors in ''Series/BlueBloods'' have a bit of sleaze attached to them though they also often have redeeming qualities and can be a ReasonableAuthorityFigure.
95	* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S2E14TheWholeTruth The Whole Truth]]", Harvey Hunnicut tries to sell the Model A Ford to a local politician named Honest Luther Grimbley in order to [[CannotTellALie escape its effects]]. However, his inability to lie means that he is forced to reveal the fact that it is haunted. Grimbley refuses to buy it on the grounds that he would not be able to deliver a single speech if he could not tell a lie.
96	* Julian Fawcett MP from ''Series/GhostsUK'' is every inch the stereotypical 1980s-1990s Tory politician -- sleazy, venal, sex-mad, amoral, utterly corrupt, and gifted primarily (if not only) in the use of two-faced politico-speak to weasel out of trouble. Unfortunately for him, it caught up with him when he died in an embarrassing sex mishap in the house where his restless spirit lingers to this day, and any other accomplishment he might have been able to claim was utterly forgotten in the face of his humiliating death. And to add insult to injury, he has to spend the entirety of eternity wearing no trousers as a result.
97	[[/folder]]
98
99	[[folder:Podcast]]
100	* ''Podcast/TheDrunkAndTheUgly'': Mayor Ulysses builds a swimming pool [[spoiler: over ground zero of a nuclear blast for his own personal gain.]]
101	* ''Podcast/UnwellPodcast:
102	** Chester Warren, who - for unknown reasons - is hellbent on taking control of Fenwood House.
103	** Mayor Edgar Lopez, a much more realistic and toned-down version, who is extremely venal, overly concerned with his image, and seems to be just using his office as a stepping stone for the U.S Senate.
104	[[/folder]]
105
106	[[folder:Radio]]
107	* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': The mayor in the radio episode "Student Government Day" is in league with the mobsters running the Jackpot Amusement Company.
108	[[/folder]]
109
110	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
111	* Played with in ''TabletopGame/ArkhamHorror'' with Charlie Kane. He's a fat, elderly, white CigarChomper who spends a lot of time thinking about his reelection campaign, and who absolutely LOOKS like a sleazeball... but he's actually a genuinely charismatic and caring person who wants save the citizens of Arkham from its EldritchAbomination problem because it's the right thing to do.
112	[[/folder]]
113
114	[[folder:Theatre]]
115	* Senator Titus Savage in ''Theatre/TheCuriousSavage.'' When a character marvels that he keeps getting sent to Washington by the voters, his mother says it's common sense: "It's the only way to keep him out of the state."
116	* In ''Theatre/StateOfTheUnion'', formerly idealistic Grant Matthews lets himself be corrupted by his thoroughly sleazy campaign manager, Jim Conover. After Conover convinces Matthews to start double-talking and selling out to special interests, a host of sleazy politicians and lobbyists start surrounding Matthews and corrupting him further.
117	[[/folder]]
118
119	[[folder:Video Games]]
120	* Every politician ever in the ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' series.
121	* In ''[[Creator/ZapDramatic Move or Die]]'', Wilma had an affair with the mayor, [[SleepingWithTheBoss whom she was an intern for]], and got caught by his wife.
122	* The ruling class of the Covenant in ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' are the Prophets, whose methods and intent mostly center around how to keep themselves in power and keep the rest of their empire in check, no matter what the cost or implication. This viewpoint is partly why the Sangheli race ends up defecting (the Prophets tried to kill them off).
123	* News ticker update from ''VideoGame/PlagueInc'': "Politician makes polygraph machine explode".
124	* The Elephant from ''VideoGame/{{Payday 2}}''. He has hired the titular Payday Gang for rigging an election and for framing one of his Democratic rivals (whom, admittedly, was a massive case of an AssholeVictim, but still).
125	* Paul Atishon from ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice'' plays this trope to the hilt. As a wannabe assemblyman with [[SmallNameBigEgo delusions of grandeur]], he spends most of his time [[TooImportantToWalk riding around in his personal campaign palanquin]] spouting typical politician platitudes, completely oblivious to the fact that [[ZeroPercentApprovalRating almost no one in Kurain Village likes him or takes him seriously]]. This is before it's learned that he's [[spoiler:accepting stolen artifacts from the kingdom of Khura'in to maintain his influence, and that he uses his influence to blackmail the legendary Phoenix Wright into working as his attorney in order to retrieve one of said artifacts, with his MysteriousBenefactor (Khura'in's scheming Minister of Justice) holding one of Wright's friends hostage for additional leverage]]. Behind the façade, however, Atishon is a DirtyCoward, begging and pleading whenever things don't go his way.
126	* ''VideoGame/MasterOfTheMonsterLair'': The Mayor. He might not actually be corrupt, but he clearly cares far more about money than he does about world peace or even the safety of his own citizens.
127	* Used as a gameplay mechanic in ''[[VideoGame/OppressiveGames POWER]]''. Your dishonest reputation increases if you backslap elites, glad-hand a lobby, campaign for a lobby, campaign ''against'' a lobby, use attack ads, or contribute to your own campaign fund from your personal finances. If it's high, attack ads against you do more damage to your influence, and your own attack ads are more likely to backfire and damage your influence instead of the target's influence.
128	* ''VideoGame/EternalChampions: Challenge from the Dark Side'' has the aptly named Senator, a none-too-subtle parody of Joe Lieberman, one of the biggest faces in the topic of violence in video games in the 90s. Senator functions as a head-swap of Larcen, a career criminal, and he fights by throwing literal red tape to bind his opponent, using "BAN" stickers to halt attacking, slinging mud, and shaking his opponent up for their money (as a "donation"). His ending double-subverts it, as it starts with him exposing the corruption in Washington and encouraging the public to hold a new vote, but then it comes out that he was just as awful as the other politicians (supporting the Iran-Contra affair and selling national secrets are explicitly named), he never went to prison for his crimes, and he even turned the scandals into a lucrative enterprise with best-selling books, films, and talk show circuits.
129	* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'': Despite a massive prison takeover and Joker unleashing havoc on Gotham, Warden Sharp's only concern is his upcoming political campaign.
130	* A sidequest in ''VideoGame/Yakuza2'' involves a councilman of Osaka named Saeki and his YesMan Mita. They initially seem to be fairly ordinary, with Saeki having published a bestselling (but very bad) self-help book, but after a diversion where Kiryu gives said book to [[TalkingDownTheSuicidal a man contemplating suicide]], he turns out to be this -- Kiryu finds Saeki and Mita coercing a woman into having sex with them, but after Kiryu and said suicidal man (who happens to be the woman's husband) pull a BigDamnHeroes and beat up Mita, they relent. Realizing this was witnessed by other residents of Sotenbori, Saeki [[LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain bribes the husband and wife to keep quiet]] and leaves, never to be seen again.
131	[[/folder]]
132
133	[[folder:Web Comics]]
134	* In ''Webcomic/TheLettersOfTheDevil'', Chuck Castor discusses using his late wife's death to get "sympathy votes" in the upcoming election. [[spoiler:It is also revealed later that he murdered an underage mistress and had an aide dispose of her body.]]
135	* Dionne Crup of ''Webcomic/{{Precocious}}'' [[http://www.precociouscomic.com/archive/comic/2010/03/08 runs for class president on this platform]]. Her campaign [[http://www.precociouscomic.com/archive/comic/2010/03/12 quickly turns negative]].
136	-->'''Roddy:''' ''My opponent is a soulless beast with malicious intentions!
137	-->'''Dionne:''' ''It's true!''
138	* From ''Webcomic/{{Pibgorn}}'''s "A Demon's Nest of Sentiments":
139	-->''Peculiar to any campaign for office is the practice among candidates of hurling dread accusations at their opponents. The practice has achieved such a degree of ordinariness, that the exercise of mudslinging is expected. It's a kind of etiquette, like good manners.''
140	-->''Each candidate, according to the other's advertised assertions, possesses not only the mendacity of Baron Munchausen and a concern for one's fellow citizens normally ascribed to Dracula; he is unrivaled in moral turpitude, avarice, misanthropy, corruption, criminality, cheating, stealing, child-starving, puppy-stomping, kitten-drowning and, on a grand scale, just plain old down-and-dirty psychopathy. Fundamentally, each candidate recognizes in his opponent a depravity of personal and professional conduct that not only would make him unfit for public office but, in the real world, unsuited for anything better than maximum security -- the very worst example of human sludge ever to have flushed from his sewer with the sinister desire to uphold, protect and defend the laws of the land.''
141	-->''In other words, there is no dungeon suited to confine such noisome evil. So we, naturally, vote for them. It's a reflex, just good manners.''
142	[[/folder]]
143
144	[[folder:Web Video]]
145	* ''WebVideo/NightmareTime:'' The town of Hatchetfield has Solomon Lauter as a mayor, a cigar-chomping mayor who is more than happy to keep the town's dirty secrets, and sees the citizens as little more than insects that keep him in power.
146	[[/folder]]
147
148	[[folder:Western Animation]]
149	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
150	** Mayor Quimby. He has constant extra-marital affairs, takes bribes, dodges taxes, and [[StealingFromTheTill embezzles city funds]]. During an outbreak of the flu, he flees to a Caribbean island and mocks the beach up as his office [[BlatantLies saying that he won't leave the city]] and also goes on a "fact-finding mission" to Aruba, where he determines that a supertrain directly connecting it with Springfield is infeasible.
151	** Senator Mendoza, the BigBad of the [[ShowWithinAShow McBain movies]]. He's an ObviouslyEvil [[TheCartel drug dealer with a vaguely Hispanic accent]], yet is apparently [[VillainWithGoodPublicity one of the most respected men in America]]. [[TheAhnold McBain]] gets chewed out by DaChief for breaking the necks of three of his bodyguards [[RefugeInAudacity and driving a bus through his front wall]].
152	** Bob Arnold, (former) congressman who accepted a bribe from a timber company that wanted to cut down the Springfield Forest. It's also implied that he accepted bribes earlier to allow another company to bury toxic waste. He was later caught in a sting operation by the FBI when he accepted another bribe to allow oil drilling on President Roosevelt's head on Mount Rushmore.
153	* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'': As shown in the episode "The Voting of the Doomed", Zim is definitely a Sleazy Politician when it comes to winning the class president election.
154	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' has Richard Nixon's head. After getting re-elected as Earth's president in "A Head in the Polls", he gets involved in all sorts of shady dealings.
155	* Tarrlok from ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', a scheming councilman representing the Northern Water Tribe who seizes control of Republic City during the Equalist crisis in season one.
156	* ''WesternAnimation/UglyAmericans'' had a mayoral candidate who seemingly couldn't go five minutes without knocking up a hooker, he'd also [[DealWithTheDevil sold his soul to Twayne]] in order to win but walked into a spinning helicopter rotor before either of them could collect.
157	* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' has Roger Doofenshmirtz, mayor of Danville. Despite [[MadScientist his brother Heinz]] thinking of him as "a goody-two-shoes", he's shown to be quite crafty and dishonest at times. In "The Beak", he lets Heinz be mayor for a day just so he'll take the fall for any property damage caused by Khakha Peu-Peu.
158	* [[ActionPolitician President Curtis]] in ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' is typically [[SlaveToPR more concerned with getting reelected]] or [[TheRival his petty rivalry with Rick]] than actually doing what's best for the country. When clones of the Smith family terrorized the Southwestern US he ignored it because those states didn't vote for him, and when [[WeaponizedLandmark the Statue of Liberty attacked New York]] he was more concerned with opposing Rick than dealing with it. Not to mention the [[ReedRichardsIsUseless advanced technology he developed in the arms race with him that he refuses to make available to the public]]. In the ThanksgivingEpisode, when the [[MakesSenseInContext turkey clone of himself]] [[PresidentEvil takes his place]] and he calls it out for not caring about America, [[VillainHasAPoint it retorts that he ended up in this situation]] ''because'' he cared more about showing up Rick than America.
159	* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersRescueBots'' gives us the self-serving mayor of Grffin Rock, H.B. Luskey. [[spoiler: A prime example of this is "Part-Time Heroes" as the events of that episode happened because he took the funds meant for a new cell phone tower and used them to buy an inflatable stadium.]]
160	* In ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', Bill Dewey is the mayor of Beach City, but in general is only really looking out for himself. Eventually, the humans in the town get tired of it and elect [[MiniatureSeniorCitizen Nanafua]] to be the new mayor. Dewey becomes depressed, feeling that he no longer has anything to do with his life, but then Steven encourages him to get a job at the Big Donut, which has been closed since Sadie quit her job and Lars [[spoiler:was kidnapped by Homeworld]].
161	* Mayor André Bourgeois in ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' frequently abuses his power to suit the whims of his daughter [[AlphaBitch Chloé]], who herself reflects that if there's anything daddy's career has taught her it's that the key to winning elections is not to have a strong platform but to destroy your opponent's reputation.
162	* District Attorney Harvey Dent in ''WesternAnimation/BewareTheBatman'' initially manufactures a campaign against Gotham's costumed criminals that extended to Batman and Katana, only doing it for political power. He later gains a genuine hatred of them when they keep humiliating him. It escalates to the point where he forms an alliance with Anarky, hires Deathstroke to kill them, and intimidates the mayor into enacting Martial Law so he and his goons can kill the heroes.
163	* ''WesternAnimation/ElTigreTheAdventuresOfMannyRivera'': Municipal President Rodriguez barely manages to avoid being an outright villain, if only because the actual villains are so far out of his league that he needs to stay on the superheroes' good side if he wants to avoid being deposed. Still doesn't stop him from stripping hero licenses if the hero in question has inconvenienced him, giving back said hero license when said hero becomes popular with the people he needs voting for him, owning a solid gold yacht, buying a diamond hat, and setting up "[[BachelorAuction bachelor charity auctions]]" as a thinly-veiled excuse to get himself and people he needs favors from laid.
164	* The ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short ''WesternAnimation/BallotBoxBunny'' has Yosemite Sam campaigning to become a small-town mayor. When his proud anti-rabbit campaign plank prompts Bugs Bunny to enter the race, they ''both'' start engaging in various dirty tricks. [[spoiler: They lose to [[DarkHorseVictory Doc Horse]], who becomes the town's new Mare.]]
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Context Main / SleazyPolitician