dream ticketn.
/ˌdriːm ˈtɪkɪt/, U.S. /ˈdrim ˌtɪkᵻt/ Originally U.S.
Originally: an ideal list of election candidates (cf. ticket n.1 8). Now: spec. a pair of candidates standing together for political office who are ideally matched to attract widespread support. Also in extended use: any ideal combination.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > appointment to office > choosing or fact of being chosen for office > election of representative body by vote > [noun] > list of candidates > pair of ideally matched candidates
dream ticket1960
1939 Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail 28 May 6/3 The same New Dealers who hope that the President will run again have also made their tentative choice for second place on their dream ticket.
1947 Dixon (Illinois) Evening Tel. 31 Dec. 1/6 The slate chosen by party leaders was described by U.S. Senator Scott Lucas..as a ‘dream ticket’.
1960 Nation's Business June 26/1 The G.O.P. professionals in Washington began calling it [sc. the proposed candidature of Nixon and Rockefeller for President and Vice-President] the ‘dream ticket’.
1983 Sunday Tel. 2 Oct. 1/2 Mr Kinnock, a leading left-winger, and Mr Hattersley, an outspoken figure on Labour's Centre-Right, have been described as the dream ticket because they would form a team uniting both wings of the Labour party.
1991 A. Yule Losing Light xxiv. 171 It was hard for Schuhly to accept that his ‘dream ticket’ of Sean Connery and Brando had broken up.
1996 D. Fleming in R. Welford & R. Starkey Business & Environment xi. 150 Improvements in eco-efficiency appear to hold out the hope of a dream ticket of growth and environmental protection.
2008 Financial Times 5 June 14/1 (headline) An Obama–Clinton dream ticket?
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1939