Force first lady to go between both political sides (5)
I believe the answer is:
lever
'force' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both to do with contact as well as being verbs in their base form.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?
'first lady to go between both political sides' is the wordplay.
'first lady' becomes 'l' (est letter of 'lady').
'to go between both political sides' becomes 'ever' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'l'+'ever'='LEVER'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lever that I've seen before include "Pivoting bar, handle" , "Machine operator" , "Revel in lifting bar" , "Heavy bar" , "Bar for prising something" .)