The candidate is riding on a wave of popularity and is expected to win the election.
短語ride (on) a wave of something的意思就是乘風破浪,比喻藉助某事從中受益。
British athletes rode a wave of patriotism during the London Olympics, winning more medals than the country ever had before.
值得注意的是,短語to take someone for a ride的意思是玩弄或欺騙某人。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.
另外還要注意的是,「乘風破浪會有時,直掛雲帆濟滄海」用英語表述也不需要用到「ride a wave of something」,往往會更簡單的譯成「Winds and waves will be when the sail sea」