Crossword Genius

Sample cheese topping with rodent and US politician (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

democrat

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'us politician' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'sample cheese topping with rodent' is the wordplay.
'sample' becomes 'demo' (I've seen this in another clue).
'cheese topping with' becomes 'c' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'rodent' becomes 'rat' (rat is a kind of rodent).
'demo'+'c'+'rat'='DEMOCRAT'

'and' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for democrat that I've seen before include "US politician" , "Person who believes in government by and for the people" , "Cleveland?" , "Believer in government of, for and by the people" , "Ditto" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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