French are ahead of politician about America's support (8)
I believe the answer is:
espousal
'support' is the definition.
(I know that espousal is a type of approval)
'french are ahead of politician about america's' is the wordplay.
'french are' becomes 'es' ('are' in French).
'ahead of' means one lot of letters go next to another (some letters go in front of others).
'politician' becomes 'pol' (synonyms).
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'america' becomes 'usa' (synonyms).
'pol' enclosing 'usa' is 'pousal'.
'es'+'pousal'='ESPOUSAL'
(Other definitions for espousal that I've seen before include "championship" , "Backing, support" , "Action of adopting (a cause)" , "Favourable reception" , "old-fashioned marriage" .)