Conventions of Republican supporters (7)
I believe the answer is:
rallies
'conventions' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both acts as well as being plural nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'republican supporters' is the wordplay.
'republican' becomes 'R' (abbreviation).
'supporters' becomes 'allies' (I've seen this before).
'r'+'allies'='RALLIES'
'of' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for rallies that I've seen before include "Recovers in health" , "Extended exchanges of tennis strokes" , "Mobilizes" , "Recovers strength after illness, or mass meetings" , "Car races on public roads" .)