Penniless man getting rid of Liberal for Republican (5)
I believe the answer is:
broke
'penniless' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'man getting rid of liberal for republican' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'man' could be 'brok' and 'brok' is found in the answer.
A single letter 'e' remains which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for broke that I've seen before include "Bust - something to go for?" , "Ordinal number" , "Lacking funds" , "Shattered" , "Smashed; penniless" .)