The candidate is riding on a wave of popularity and is expected to win the election.
短语ride (on) a wave of something的意思便是披荆斩棘，比方凭借某事从中获益。
British athletes rode a wave of patriotism during the London Olympics, winning more medals than the country ever had before.
有必要留意一下的是，短语to take someone for a ride的意思是戏弄或诈骗或人。例如：
I trusted Ben, but he took me for a ride. He sold me a ticket to the Kanye West show, but in fact it wasn't a real ticket: it was just a photocopy.
别的还需要留意的是，“披荆斩棘会有时，直挂云帆济沧海”用英语表述也不需要用到“ride a wave of something”，往往会更简略的译成“Winds and waves will be when the sail sea”
