Appeared to observe Democrat flip-flopping (6)
I believe the answer is:
seemed
'appeared' is the definition.
('seem' can be a synonym of 'appear')
'observe democrat flip-flopping' is the wordplay.
'observe' becomes 'see' (I've seen this in another clue).
'democrat' becomes 'dem' (common abbreviation in US politics).
'flip-flopping' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'dem' backwards is 'med'.
'see'+'med'='SEEMED'
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for seemed that I've seen before include "Was appearing" , "Appeared, looked" , "'Appeared, gave the impression (6)'" .)