Second small fib about Democrat's fall from grace (9)

'fall from grace' is the definition.
(backslide can mean a relapse or fall from grace)

'second small fib about democrat's' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'second' could be 'back' (to second a motion is to back it) and 'back' is present in the answer.
'small' could be 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size) and 's' is located in the answer.
'democrat' could be 'd' and 'd' is located in the answer.
'fib' could be 'lie' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'lie' is found in the leftover letters.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).