Pillars of some American communities lose badly after politician supports form of gambling? (5,5)
I believe the answer is:
totem poles
'pillars' is the definition.
(I know this)
'lose badly after politician supports form of gambling?' is the wordplay.
'badly' is an anagram indicator.
'after' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'politician' becomes 'MP' (Member of Parliament).
'supports' says to put letters next to each other (bottom letters provide a support for the top ones).
'form of gambling?' becomes 'tote' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'lose' is an anagram of 'oles'.
'oles' after 'mp' is 'mpoles'.
'mpoles' after 'tote' is 'TOTEM-POLES'.
'of some american communities' acts as a link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for totem poles that I've seen is " symbolic importance".)