Member goes after sham, failed presidential candidate – no need to panic (5,5)
I believe the answer is:
false alarm
'member' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are singular nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
'after sham failed presidential candidate no need to panic' is the wordplay.
'after sham failed presidential candidate no' becomes 'false' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'need' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'to panic' becomes 'alarm' (alarm can mean panic or fear).
'false'+'alarm'='FALSE ALARM'
'goes' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for false alarm that I've seen before include "Panic over" , "Warning proving unnecessary" , "unfounded scare?" .)