Republican in reflective frame of mind visiting downtrodden individual (7)
I believe the answer is:
doormat
'downtrodden individual' is the definition.
(someone who people walk all over)
'republican in reflective frame of mind visiting' is the wordplay.
'republican' becomes 'r' (abbreviation).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'reflective' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'frame of mind' becomes 'mood' (I've seen this before).
'visiting' becomes 'at'.
'mood' backwards is 'doom'.
'r' placed into 'doom' is 'doorm'.
'doorm'+'at'='DOORMAT'
(Other definitions for doormat that I've seen before include "wimp" , ", way out and dull" , "Habitually humiliated person" , "Coarse rug for wiping shoes at entrance" , "Wipe feet on this before entering" .)