Democrat in drubbing, almost tearful (7)
I believe the answer is:
maudlin
'tearful' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'democrat in drubbing almost' is the wordplay.
'democrat' becomes 'd'.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'drubbing' becomes 'mauling' (both can mean a severe defeat).
'almost' means to remove the last letter (most of the word but not all of it).
'mauling' with its final letter taken away is 'maulin'.
'd' placed inside 'maulin' is 'MAUDLIN'.
(Other definitions for maudlin that I've seen before include "lovey-dovey" , "Sloppily sentimental, perhaps due to drink" , "Mushy and emotional" , "Soppy, lachrymose" , "Sentimentally tearful" .)